The Sheltering Sky

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The Sheltering Sky (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

The Sheltering Sky, arguably Bowles's best work, has as its setting his terrible yet hauntingly lovely depiction of the Sahara Desert. The chief protagonist could be said to be like the desert itself: an aloof, indomitable, compelling, disorienting, killer landscape—a killer waiting for new victims. All is mystery, despite the clarifying sunlight. A kind of anarchy reigns in the chaotic towns on the desert's periphery, and the farther one travels from coastal cities, the more anarchic and mysterious things become for Bowles's dissolute, bored characters.

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• The Sheltering Sky (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
• The Sheltering Sky (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
• The Sheltering Sky (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
• The Sheltering Sky (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)

See Also:

• Paul Bowles (Cyclopedia of World Authors)
• Paul Bowles (Short Fiction)
• Paul Bowles (Long Fiction)