'The Sheltering Sky' (1949) by Paul Bowles About the book This is the first novel and the most highly acclaimed of all of Paul's works. It became an immediate best seller (for eleven weeks in 1950) and had three printings within the first six weeks of its publication in September 1949. Regarded by many as the major contender for the title of 'Best Book of the Twentieth Century.' Also made into a movie in 1990. The story revolves around the characters of Port and Kit who go from New York to North Africa with a friend called Tunner. They arrive in Oran, Algeria, and move slowly through a fantasy landscape into the sometimes harsh reality, and beauty of, the Sahara. The novel highlights the meeting of two very different cultures: the modern, intellectual western with the ancient, simplistic yet timeless Tuareg. Bowles' themes within the book captured the attention and imagination of the post-war world: lost love, entrapment, intrigue, alienation and finally, abandonment. Paul's existentialist narrative opened the floodgates for a new wave of writers in the 1950's and beyond who addressed a huge expanse of thought dreams and issues. A major work by any standards. 'Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it. Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.' Listen to Paul Bowles speaking this text Available Editions: First Editions, UK: True First 'The Sheltering Sky' London, John Lehmann, 1949 First edition, hardbound with dw 4000 copies printed 'The Sheltering Sky' ACE, London, UK, 1958 First edition 'The Sheltering Sky' Penguin Paperback: 1969 First edition Later Editions, UK: 'The Sheltering Sky' Flamingo Paperback, 1993 'The Sheltering Sky' Penguin: May 2000 paperback available from amazon.co.uk 'The Sheltering Sky' Penguin: January 2004 paperback available from amazon.co.uk First Edition, Denmark 'Under Himlens Daekke' Gyldendal, Kovenhavn:, 1950 Pa Dansk Ved Mogens Knudsen The very first translation of a Paul Bowles book First Edition, Japan: 'Kyokuchi No Sora' (The Sheltering Sky) Tokyo: Shinchosa, 1955 First Edition, France: 'Un Thé Au Sahara' (The Sheltering Sky) Paris: Galimard 1952. In printed wraps. Only 86 large paper copies were printed. Later Edition, France: 'Un Thé Au Sahara' (The Sheltering Sky); Paris: Gallimard 1980 First Edition, Germany: 'Himmel über der Wüste' (The Sheltering Sky) ; Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag 1952. Later Editions, Germany: 'Himmel über der Wüste' (The Sheltering Sky) 'Himmel über der Wüste' (The Sheltering Sky) Goldmann, München 'Himmel über der Wüste' (The Sheltering Sky) First Editions, USA: 'The Sheltering Sky' NY New Directions 1949 1st US edition 8vo. Hardback in dw Beige cloth with black titles on spine. 3596 copies printed 'The Sheltering Sky' NY: Signet 840, 1951 first paperback edition. Later Editions, USA: 'The Sheltering Sky' NY: Signet 1259, 1955 Second edition paperback 'The Sheltering Sky' NY New Directions, 1968 Paperback book 'The Sheltering Sky' Ecco Press, 1978 paperback 'The Sheltering Sky' Ecco Press: April 1998 paperback available from Amazon.com 'The Sheltering Sky' Vintage International 1990. 1st Vintage International Edition. Paperback. 'The Sheltering Sky' Ecco Editions · Hardcover Publication Date: October 2000 hardcover book available from Amazon.com First Edition, Polish: 'Pod Oslona Nieba' (1998) Poznan: Zysk I S-Ka Wydawnictwo First Edition, Russia: 'The Sheltering Sky' in Russian Later Edition, Spain: 'El Cielo Protector' Dedicated to the life and work of Paul and Jane Bowles ©International Paul Bowles Society, 2000 a non-profit organisation in England