The Dream at the End of the World: Paul Bowles and the Literary Renegades in Tangier

by Michelle Green

Profiles the literary renegades and fellow travelers who followed Paul and Jane Bowles to Tangiers, during the 1950s and 1960s, searching for inspiration, sex, drugs, and escape from "civilization"

Genres: Biography, Morocco, Nonfiction, Africa, Biography Memoir, History, 20th Century

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[LeeAnn Heringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a history of Tangier, Morocco from post-World War II cafe society with its heady mix of black sheep nobility, charlatans and ever so interesting criminal types through the beats writers to the hippies. During this period Morocco went from French colony to independent country, which was a big enough local event that it did seem to have some impact on the dinner parties. The book is well written and researched, the author apparently talked to members of the Tangier expat community to get the right gossipy touch. The scene where Jack Kerouac sees his future, and is repulsed by it, is priceless.

It does raise interesting questions of (1) why do some writers thrive in exile and some writers do not and (2) whether I would have had any patience with the hippies who lined up at the American embassy on Sunday afternoons to call home to their mothers to demand more money for drugs and (3) how much sympathy do I have for people with unlimited resources that complain of boredom.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the dedication the author quotes Truman Capote in 1950,
"Before coming here (Tangier) you should do three things: be inoculated for typhoid, withdraw your savings from the bank, say good-bye to your friends-heaven knows you may never see them again...Because Tangier is a basin that hold you."
This isn't so much a biography as it is a snapshot of the life of Paul Bowles, his wife Jane and a myriad cast of characters including Allen Ginsburg, William Burroughs, Barbara Hutton....the rich, the famous, the artistic, the tormented. Bowles saw himself as an existentialist and chose to live where there were very few rules..homosexuality, pedophilia, drug use, eccentricity, were all accepted in Tangier. Experimentation with all of the above fueled the writings of all who came, for better or worse.

[Jeff Russo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Bowles may not be compelling enough by himself to bother reading a full biography of him (though several exist), so best to get your dose in this more general book, which covers his wife Jane in almost as much detail as Paul and gives appropriate time to the other characters in the Tangier constellation.

And quite a constellation it was - drug pioneers, boy-lovers, fraudsters, cock-hungry exile countesses, on and on. Of course the party started going downhill as soon as Tangier became an un-independent part of Morocco in the late 1950s - Muslims taking charge always throws a wet blanket on things.

Plenty of good William Burroughs anecdotes (something I always enjoy).

Bowles's rationalization for living in Morocco in the early 1960s sounds just like what I say about Seattle: "The only way to live in Morocco now is to remember constantly that the world outside is still more repulsive."

I've read The Sheltering Sky but alas Bowles seemed to suffer from Woody Allen disease - making the same thing over and over - so I doubt I'll read any more of his stuff.

[Jim Breslin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read of the eccentric artistic expats who made Tangier their home throughout the twentieth century. The artists and writers Paul and Jane Bowles were the center of the community, and their presence in Tangier brought many notable figures the Moroccan city: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, William Burroughs, Bryon Gysin, and Allen Ginsburg all visited with the couple. In addition, the well-researched book provided an understanding of the years in which Morocco went from being a territory controlled by the French and Spanish to an autonomous country.

[Gerry Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to learn more about Bowles and his work, this is not the book. The parts about William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg were great, but I did not learn anything about Bowles. Disappointing!

[Stephen Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book is wonderful survey of an incredibly rich period of literary his

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a unique history/biography of some of the notorious artists and other sorts in Morocco (mostly in Tangier) that centers around Paul Bowles and his wife Jane as well as others such as Truman Capote, William S. Burroughs, Libby Holman, etc.. This book is an excellent read for those of you who like books that give intimate insights to some of the great artists (and others) and their fatal attraction to Tangier. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in history, scandal, addiction, and culture.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was more interested in reading about post-war Morocco than reading about the shenanigans of relatively rich western writers (who lived to create drama both on the page and off.) This paints a vivid portrait of the International Zone from the late 1940s through the early 70s, but I skimmed when the narrative focused on gossip and scandal. The relationships are interesting, such as the Bowles marriage and Jane's destructive decades-long romance with a manipulative Moroccan woman, but the brief encounters and anecdotes don't add anything.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at the lives of artist expatriates living in Morocco in the fifties. Eccentric millionaires, fugitives from the law, and writers like William Burroughs, Jane + Paul Bowles, and Tennessee Williams created their own little enclave where the rent was cheap, hash was readily available, and being queer was not illegal. Written in a continuously engaging style and with no shortage of drama and interesting characters.

[Brian Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morrocco, Truman Capote, Opium, expatriates, sexual liberation... These are the things that make my heart sing. “Before coming here (Tangier) you should do three things: be inoculated for typhoid, withdraw your savings from the bank, say good-bye to your friends-heaven knows you may never see them again... Because Tangier is a basin that holds you."

[Jacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exotic locale and even more exotic personalities give this book the foundation to entertain. It piqued my curiosity to read more writings from the "literary renegades" from that time period: Ginsberg, Kerouac and Bowles, too, to name a few. Green did an outstanding job in making the book read like a juicy gossip column.

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great biography of the Tangier International Zone set of writers, which included Paul and Jane Bowles, William S. Burroughs, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and others.

[Tom Buchanan]

This book made sodomy sound boring.