“The Sheltering Sky is one of the most original, even visionary, works of fiction to appear in the twentieth century.” —Tobias Wolff
"It stands head and shoulders above most other novels published in English since World War II.” —New Republic
“His art far exceeds that of . . . the greatest American writers of our day . . . Bowles has glimpsed what lies back of our sheltering sky . . . an endless flux of stars so like those atoms which make us up that we experience not only horror but likeness.” —Gore Vidal
In this classic work of psychological terror, Paul Bowles examines the ways in which Americans apprehend an alien culture—and the ways in which their incomprehension destroys them. The story of three American travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky is at once merciless and heartbreaking in its compassion. It etches the limits of human reason and intelligence—perhaps even the limits of human life—when they touch the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert.
“Now and then, perhaps once in five or six years, a novel appears which does not repeat the pattern of commonplace existence . . . but makes us realize that our life is extraordinary. The Sheltering Sky is such a novel.” —Sunday Observer
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Ecco (May 27, 2025)
- ISBN-13: 978-0062351487