Bowles Books

In her syndicated column, Linda Bowles once predicted "historians would describe the Clinton administration not as a sea change in America politics but as a toilet flush." Such intelligent derision so courageously stated would make any book she wrote warrant a read.

In "The Remnant" she employs caustic satire skillfully to advocate a return to the principles of common sense and human decency. The fable takes place in 2046 when political correctness has developed a chokehold on all American institutions. The Constitution-determined to be hopelessly outdated--has been banished to a museum. Fulfilling quotas of racial, gender, sexual-preference, and assorted other categories is the primordial function of every aspect of public policy. Religion is virtually outlawed. The Democrat and Republican parties have converged into one self-perpetuating organization--the Demopubs, and all that made America great is abased, ridiculed, or obliterated. So removed from rectitude has the nation become that God appears to the President with a warning to get back on the right track.

Those who seek out symbolism will find many characters named after Biblical players. The President's name is Moses Jones, the first lady is Sheba, and the vice-president who faces a few figurative giants is given the first name of David. No allegorical appellation is as humorously utilized as Judith Ischcarot who serves as a de facto atheism czar in the cabinet.

Much of this short work is risibly sapient, but late in chapter eight, it takes a major detour into stirring eloquence. When President Moses Jones addresses his cabinet and admits that he experienced a Theophany, his remarks are profound. Were this peroration a genuine speech delivered by a real president, it would take its place not too far beneath George Washington's farewell or the Gettysburg Address. The penetrating sinew is constant throughout the nearly two page soliloquy and is represented by lines like "we decided sin and guilt are burdens we don't have to carry. In effect, the rules governing our behavior can be whatever we want them to be...In an environment permissive of uninhibited expression, we did not find the inherent wisdom within our souls; we found the inherent barbarism."

Although the parable takes place 40+ years in the future, most of it is applicable today. When President Jones declaims, " we used to fight our demons...now we embrace them, " his words ring as true in 2001 as the do in the era of Demopubs. Perhaps "The Remnant" can serve as a much needed wake-up call. It is far less drastic that a visit from above conveying divine displeasure.

If you like wit, peppered with a point, you'll love "The Remnant". After you've read it, you can't help wondering why the powerful novels of our time warn against Socialism yet we seem to be running toward it. Another point : the book is short!! With the advent of word processing, it seems as though every book has to be a huge tome to make a point. As Huxley said, "Brevity is the sould of wit". Thanks, Linda, for a wonderfully accessible read.

The Remnant is Linda Bowles at her satirical best, projecting current liberal policies to their hilarious conclusions. The book is a fable, relating a time in the future where God personally visits the President of the United States. In telling the story, Linda skewers every liberal icon and jabs skillfully at current political practices. Johnny Hart's cartoon illustrations are a wonderful condiment to a conservative reader's feast. Have some fun reading!

This book does an outstanding job of detailing exactly where the slippery slope of socialism will take America. The author predicts the logical extension of our current policies almost 50 years into the future with shocking results.

Wit, satire and humor are used to their fullest to make an already short book an even quicker read. The lessons learned, however, will be retained forever.

Although this book is written by social democrats, and I am nowhere near a social democrat, I found it to be a very fair and accurate (as far as I know) treatment of economics. Instead of the one dimensional approach favored by the neoclassical economics that dominates American universities, it uses a three dimensional "political economy" approach. It analyzes markets, power relations, and economic growth. And it tells you a lot of very important things that textbooks leave out, mostly relating to flaws with markets. I recommend this book to anyone who is seriously interested in economics. However, it easy enough for anyone to understand.

"Understanding Capitalism", as far as I know, is the best "alternative" introductory textbook dealing with how the economy works. Some of its content is similar to what one would find in a standard introductory economics textbook: the treatment of supply and demand, inflation, monetary and fiscal policy is fairly conventional, even when non-traditional notation is used. However, much else is fresh, insightful and non-dogmatic. It gives capitalism credit when it's due, and doles out criticism when it applies. Throughout the book, a "three-dimensional approach" is used: competition (horizontal market relations), command (vertical class relations) and change (developments over time) are all examined to give a meaningful picture of the economy. The book has three main parts: political economy (chapters 1-7), microeconomics (chapters 8-13) and macroeconomics (chapters 14-19). I will elaborate on some of the themes developed.

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Chapter 2 contains an amazing discussion of agency: "homo economicus", or as Amartya Sen proclaimed, the "rational fool" is challenged with the help of experimental game theory.
Chapter 4 refers to history of economic thought and briefly reviews the ideas of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, Ronald Coase and Amartya Sen.
Chapter 5 examines the concept of surplus product, the conflict it engenders and its different uses.
Chapters 6 and 7 discuss capitalism and class in the context of different economic systems (slavery, feudalism, central planning, etc.) and review the different phases of American capitalism. An important insight that comes from this is that not all capitalisms are the same: different social and institutional arrangements exist. In fact, the "varieties of capitalism" approach in comparative political science draws on the same insight.

MICROECONOMICS
Chapter 9 contains an extensive discussion of market failure (some basic game theory is used).
Chapter 12 dwells on the insight that the labor market is fundamentally different from other markets. Purchasing labor is not enough: it has to be extracted. The authors use "efficiency wage" theory and a labor extraction curve to show why wages do not reach market clearing levels and why involuntary unemployment always persists (this is later used to discuss full employment in the part on macroeconomics).
Chapter 13 expands the notion of labor extraction and describes the main methods of control used by firms: simple (as in a fast food restaurant), technical (as in a car factory) and bureaucratic control (as in an office).

MACROECONOMICS
Chapter 15 discusses economic development. It takes on the efficiency-equality trade-off often assumed by economists as well as argues that successful development depends mainly on the local institutions rather than foreign investment. In fact, even some neoclassical economists such as Dani Rodrik from Harvard would agree.
Chapter 17 examines the business cycle in the context of the rate of profit (which is discussed extremely thoroughly in Chapter 10). During an expansion of the business cycle labor and material inputs gradually become more expensive and end up squeezing the rate of profit, leading to a decline in investment. This insight applies beyond a regular business cycle. I personally think that a very similar high-employment profit squeeze analysis can be used to partly understand why the post-war consensus in Great Britain was challenged by Thatcherism.

The style of this book is as good as the content. The figures, tables and boxes it employs (all in grayscale) are elegant and non-irritating (a characteristic almost impossible to find in introductory economics textbooks). The writing is lucid and engaging. One example of this is the opening of Chapter 6 which introduces the notion of surplus product by referring to the history of Cambridge, England: both the Medieval cathedral and the 17th century ditches in Cambridge are results of the surplus product. The former was used for religious purposes, the latter were used to drain marshy land and to expand productive capacity. Finally, the lists of suggested readings in the end of every chapter contain some very valuable recommendations.

Of course, as one reviewer pointed out, this book is not perfect. It disregards some mainstream concepts that are important or useful: price elasticity and welfare analysis, free trade and comparative advantage, production possibilities frontier (PPF). They can be successfully criticized (e.g. comparative advantage can be criticized as static and dependent on certain restrictive and unrealistic assumptions) but it is vital to know them since they are used in debates on public policy (taxes, trade, etc.). PPF in its turn helps to understand the difference between "crowding out" and "crowding in" due to fiscal policy. However, I do not think this takes away from this book. Most students will know mainstream concepts from regular courses. Thus, I highly recommend it!

As taught in most undergraduate courses, the world of mainstream economics is an orderly place where markets clear, economic actors are rational, and social harmony prevails. Readers wanting more realism should read "Understanding Capitalism," a superb introduction to economics written from a social democratic perspective. As in any introductory econ text, the book carefully analyzes market processes. However, it also analyzes "command" relationships within firms and the relationship between capitalist dynamics and economic growth. This "three dimensional" approach to economics -- the authors prefer the term "political economy" -- offers a comprehensive view of the subject.

The core chapters deal with microeconomics and macroeconomics. The micro section borrows from Marx and Schumpeter, and focuses on profit-seeking and "accumulation" as the keys to capitalist dynamics. The macro chapters draw on and update Keynes, and explain why unemployment is a persistent feature of U.S.-style capitalism (Swedish-style capitalism is a different matter). Throughout, economic concepts are related to ideas from anthropology, history, political science, and environmental science. Key points are illustrated with examples from the daily news; there is much algebra, but no calculus; the writing is clear. This is a very reader-friendly econ text.

It is also refreshingly non-dogmatic. Although the authors are leftists, they acknowledge that capitalism obliterates archaic economic structures and lifts standards of living. They also highlight the role of profit-seeking in the development of new technologies and production methods. Their tone is consistently reasonable and fair to all points of view. Of course, no book is perfect. I would have preferred a more traditional analysis of microeconomics (complete with graphs showing average cost, marginal cost, and so forth). The sections on international trade and finance are too skimpy for a book trying to make sense of modern globalized capitalism. But overall, "Understanding Capitalism" is superb. No one taking a mainstream lower-division course on economics should miss it -- and anyone teaching such a course should consider using it as a supplemental text.

I've always found studying economics to be an extremely frustrating experience. It seems my only options for learning about capitalism are (1) academic economists who study free-market processes but act as though political economy doesn't and never did exist, or (2) Marxist activists, who DO talk about political economy, but whose actual grasp of it is somewhat weak (and whose grasp of free-market principles is even weaker). Understanding Capitalism is really an anomaly in that it doesn't fit neatly into either of the aforementioned groups. This may be partly explained by the fact that at least one of the authors is a political scientist. Anyway, the book covers both free-market capitalist economics AND political economy, as well as providing (in the first chapter) a masterful summary of the rise and explosive growth of capitalism, first in England, then Europe, and now the world. I wish I could give you the whole table of contents so you could see how wide the scope of this book really is. Just to convince you that it isn't your standard college economic textbook, however, I'll give you a taste.

Here are the titles of a few sections within the book:
"Values in Political Economy"
"Karl Marx"
"Capitalism, the Surplus Product and Profits"
"Class and Class Relationships"
"The Capitalist Firm as a Command Economy"
"Race and Inequality" (!)
"The Limits of Democratic Control of the Capitalist Economy"

Here are the titles of a few chapters within the book:
"Capitalism Shakes the World"
"Political Economy, Past and Present"
"Competition and Concentration"
"The Mosaic of Inequality"
"Progress and Poverty on a World Scale"
"The Future of Capitalism"

If you have only heard criticisms of capitalism from Marxist literature, this book will be extremely valuable. You'll get a more scientific understanding of the same principles and a good presentation of the critique of capitalism scattered throughout the entire book. At the same time, you're sure to learn more about the workings of a free-market economy in the absence of government control (from both a neoclassical perspective and other perspectives). Most economics textbooks practically seem like they're written for business students, and they sure aren't interested in helping the reader really "understand capitalism." Read this book, and you will understand capitalism.

Use literature and literary figures to follow in the footsteps of notable writers and their settings with the aid of a title which covers many destinations, from the Prague of Kafka to Steinbeck's California setting for Cannery Row. Add first-person reflections on the literature containing the settings and you have an excellent take-along or travel planner.

Literary Trips: Following In The Footsteps Of Fame is a superbly presented compendium of observations, adventures, and travels of and by some of the best loved writers as they trekked around the world. A magnificent armchair travelogue, Literary Trips is divided as the world is: Africa to Australasia (Paul Bowles, T. E. Lawrence, Rohinton Mistry, Bruce Chatwin); North America: West (Malcolm Lowry, The Beats, D. H. Lawrence, Garrison Keillor and Sinclair Lewis); North America: East (Tennessee Williams, Margaret Mitchell and Tom Wolfe, Ayn Rand, Mark Twain, Elizabeth Smart); Caribbean and Latin America (Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming and Noel Coward, John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood); Great Britain and Ireland (W. B. Yeats, Jane Urquhart and the Bronte Sisters, A. A. Milne, Agatha Christie and Jane Austen); Continental Europe (Knut Hamsun, The Lost Generation, Mary Shelley). Highly recommended for both school and community library collections, Literary Trips is enhanced for the reader with a section on biographies and a "user friendly" index. A novel and original feature of this publication is that any of the chapters are available as separate, individual e-texts and downloadable from the GreatestEscapes.com website.

This is a book to savor in a cigar lounge...in the corner of a jazz club...in front of a softly crackling fire at home. Or in a hammock under a royal palm in the deep, deep south.

I started out by nestling with the book into our oversized, down-filled sofa - and ended up traveling through one of the best reads of my life. Several times, I startled my husband with cries of "No kidding...Wow...I didn't know that...Ohmigod..." as I discovered new places in the hearts of my favorite authors. And delved into the lives of others I knew little about.

Literary Trips probes into the past, yet is formatted for the present. We're all used to reading in chunks now - short, self-contained sections that are complete, independent modules. And this book is totally "today" in that respect. Each chapter, written by a different person, is a complete story - gift-wrapped with its own special signature. Each has its own flavor, its own style, its own finds. Every writer has unearthed amusing tidbits and lively tales that add richness and depth to well researched and beautifully written prose.

The book is also an excellent travel guide for following in those famous footsteps. Each module contains a practical reference section listing hotels and other stomping grounds of famous feet ("Literary Sites"; "Literary Sleeps"). Each section also describes how to get to those grounds and provides useful tips and background information.

My favorite parts are the little surprises throughout. For example, did you know that: § Hemingway dedicated his Nobel Prize for literature to the patron saint of the basilica in Santiago de Cuba? § Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels at Goldeneye, his home in Jamaica, and named 007 after the local author of a book on birds? § When Ayn Rand was writing Atlas Shrugged, which took 12 years, she didn't leave her apartment for an entire month?

Another of the book's delightful dimensions is a smattering of recipes that could form a menu for a literary memorial party. You could honor D.H. Lawrence with his dandelion wine; Hemingway with double daiquiris; Mistry with Dhansak; and Sinclair Lewis with his "Sinful Christmas Cookies".

I'm always looking for inspiration for my own writing, and Lit Trips provides it on many fronts. Much of it comes from seeing so many authors "under one cover" - an excellent way to compare styles, to link lives, to see how they made their magic. But I was no less inspired by the talent of the book's contributing writers.

Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life (Economic Learning and Social Evolution) combinds the theory of cultural evolution ala Boyd and Richerson (and Henrich et al) and the behavioral economy by people like Gintis, Bowles and Fehr. The book works further based on the theory - develops e.g. models for a better social policy etc.

Book discusses an issue which is very central for "being a human being" - co-operation. Book is very informative, very well written even if there are many writers with heterogenous background. Also after the book you kind of get more optimistic about the prospects of humananity.

I am without any formal education in antropology, biology and economics but have read "everything" by Boyd and Richerson - my understanding on economics is based on Microeconomics by Samuel Bowles.

The book was to me a good further reading after the Bowles Microeconomics book. But the book can be read even by someone who does not know about economics even that much as me. The book is not too formal - easy to read actually.

For several years now, a group of social scientists has been studying the human tendency to be socially fair rather than narrowly selfish. The editors of this volume--Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd, and Ernst Fehr--are among the stalwarts; others are found among the authors of the book's chapters.
The core of this long-running effort is Fehr's experiments with the ultimatum game, in which two people must share a sum of money (say, $10); Person A gets to propose a split, Person B can only accept or decline. Economists and politicians would expect every game to wind up with a $9.99/$0.01 split (or actually a 9-1 split, since bills are used), but in fact typical splits are more like 5-5 or 6-4, and in one place (Lamalera, Indonesia) people actually split something like 4-6, few A's ever claiming even half the money. This long-running set of experiments around the world adds to a vast, rapidly accumulating set of data showing that people are sociable, not "rational" in the folk-economic sense (i.e., dedicated solely to narrow material self-interest). The present book discusses the implications for economics and politics. If people are naturally concerned with fairness, narrowly economistic policies can be counterproductive; we all know cases of "crowding out," in which a material incentive actually makes people act worse, by crowding out moral incentives. If you reward people for being good, they will think it's all a cynical game, and will act worse. Punitive legislation to make people do what they do anyway (for moral reasons) is also counterproductive. Imagine what these realizations would do to American social policy.
The problem with this book is that it is too optimistic and upbeat. The downside of human sociability is confined to one page, late in the book (p. 388), where racism, honor killing, and the like get a quick mention. Alas, the morning radio brings a stream of accounts not only of such things but also of religious butchery all over the world--Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and even Buddhists (theoretically prohibited from killing but busily genocidal). This brings us back to Adam Smith's suggestion that greed may not be lovable but may be better than the noble, virtuous alternatives. I hope Gintis et al work on how to decouple fairness and interpersonal concern from the desire to exterminate everybody who is not in one's immediate social set. Until this is done, the hope purveyed in this work will remain thin.
The authors note that humans seem genetically programmed to have at least some sense of fairness and of self-sacrifice for the common good, but they wisely refrain from trying to unpack "hereditary" and "environmental" or "cultural" aspects. Heredity makes us do this, and learn it easily, and heredity gives us the ability to learn and develop cultures. No way to unpack. Still, more needs to be done on just how flexible these inborn moralities are. The range from Lamalera to certain parts of South America is pretty great. So is the range of murderousness in religious and ethnic settings. We need to know how to modify human behavior in these regards, and how much we can hope for.
That being said, this book is the best yet in the long list of books that devastate the selfish-individualist model of human behavior. People desperately want to be sociable, and be good members of their society. This may lead them to fairness and generosity, or to body-piercing, or to suicide bombing. This book offers hope for building new societies through use of innate human decency. At this point in time, any book seriously offering such hope is desirable.

This book is just really great. The literature on fairness and reciprocity in social science is growing fast, and this book is ideal to give you a flavour of why this is such a good thing. It is diverse, with entries ranging from biological models that attempt to explain the evolution of reciprocity, through the implications of reciprocity for the way legal sanctions work, to the political philosophy of the dark side of clan mentality.
Most readers will probably not want to read everything, and even less people will agree with everything. One needs to remember that a lot of the stuff in this book is still controversial, including the existence of (strong) reciprocity, but this is what makes it so very interesting. And if only half of what's in this book is right, it is still revolutionary.
In 10 years, this book will be terribly outdated. But for now, it is the best thing you can get if you are interested in the interplay between evolution, reciprocity and social order, and the fundamental questions of social science that it entails.

This book puts the history of this region in a soft light. From Fischer to Foster the South has been analyzed and memorialized, but Bowles will make you smile about it all with his interviews and anecdotes. Natives will recognize many of the characters and the "immigrant" will want a permanent visa after reading this rich narrative.

If you are a southerner, a political junkie, or doing research on the Old South (the one that existed between The War of Northern Aggression - excuse me, the Civil War - and approximately 1975)...you'll love this book. I did.

A must-read for any fan of politics and the characters who run the machine. Bowles and Tyson weave a yarn on par with the cast of good ol' boys they profile.

Paul Bowles, aclaimed author of The Sheltering Sky, actually recorded Mrabet's tales and then translated them. Being set in North Africa, and deriving from a tradition of oral story telling, this book is an exotic adventure. The stories are brutaly honest, often violent and startling ; peices of middle-eastern magic float up from every page. Writeing fom such a culturally different veiw point, Mbaret does an exellent job of takeing westeners into the unique mind-sets of his characters. Over all, an amazing journey if your mind is open enough to take it.

Mrabet is a fantastic story teller.So good, in fact , that when his books first came out critics claimed they were written by Paul Bowles himself. Which isn't true, Bowles merely recorded and then translated the stories. This particular book is largley autobiographical, dealing with Mrabet's life trying to surrvive in his native land. We get a glimpse into the inner-workings of his mind and Morrocan culture as well with its exotic rituals, black magic, spells and anti-spells, and blurring of fantasy and reality. Mrabet lays down the line raw and simple, understateing much of the action, which makes the brutal, violent scenes all the more abrupt and shocking. It's eastern sensibilities slam up against our own western cultural perceptions and shatter them with a kind of quiet, primal delight. Every fan of Bowles needs to own this book.

Though some of the topics in these interviews are repeated, overall they provide entertaining reading about Bowles, Tangier and his world. If you are not familiar with Bowles, I'd read Michelle Green's "The Dream at the End of the World" first, as it gives a fascinating and very well-written account of the expatriote community in Tangier, of which Bowles seems to have been the unelected president, or should we say sultan.

I don't regard Bowles as much of a fiction writer. (Apparently, he never got de-kiffed enough to see how sophomoric much of it is.) However, he is a very good conversationalist, as well as travel, or adventure, writer. (See "Without Stopping" and "Their Heads are Green and Their Hands are Blue.")

Edith Wharton's "In Morocco" is a great primer for the cultural backdrop in which Bowles lived and thrived and, like Bowles, she documents people, places and things very well. (If you like Bowles, you'll love her.)

Especially considering the current crisis between Islam and the West, it is important to read about the other guys without having to demonize them all the time. Bowles has an affinity for "the other guys" that is very refreshing. Yes, the North Africans are somewhat unreasonable, but then who isn't? And, is there a connection between Spain having the lowest confidence in President Bush's abilities (7%) and its proximity to, and long, troubled relations with, North Africa? Did you know that 90% of Morocco's Moslems were, at the time of Bowles' writing, not really Arabs, but Berbers, with a very different (and, from other Islamic pov's, unacceptable) approach to the religion? No?! Then read the book. (I had no idea.) If you want schisms, you got schisms. So the subjects discussed with Bowles are often more interesting than the man himself, who is a bit of a pervert and stuffed-shirt. But, he is also a sorcerer and magician, especially if you're stoned out of your mind on kif or majoun. He cultivated a following that was all too open to suggestion.

O.K., now, if you can put up with a lot of name-dropping and self-aggrandisement, then you'll enjoy this book, as much of the interesting "dialogue" between Islam and the West has occurred in Morocco. From Tangier, Bowles could actually see the coast of Spain, and, with his cigarette holder fully extended, flick an ash or two toward Europe. But he could also venture south into the mysterious countryside, with its Atlas Mountains, unnerving desert, oases and towns.

While the man himself might have been a sometimes irritating exercise in stoned-out tweed, many of his observations regarding the onslaught of civilization reflect this bizarre combination of aristocratic teahead, ethnologist, and sadistic dandy.

Caponi's collection of interviews, spanning several decades up to the early 1990's is a must for all real fans of Paul Bowles work, and an intriguing introduction to his life, work and influences for those who know little about him. As with any such collection of interviews, there is bound to be much repetition - different interviewers ask often essentially the same questions, while Bowles gives (more or less) the same answers. However, even for someone like myself, who thinks they know quite a bit about the man and his work (and maintains one of the Paul Bowles pages on the Web -

Many of the interviews touch on many of the other literary figures Bowles has known - Tennessee Williams is a frequent topic of conversation, as are William Burroughs and the other beat writers, and their time spent in Tangiers. It becomes very evident from the few interviews that dwell on the subject that Bowles is not going to talk much about his late wife, Jane. His hatred for the biography 'An invisible spectator' comes through clearly in several places, but I found it intriguing that his preferred biographer (if he had to make a reluctant choice) would be Millicent Dillon, author of the biography of Jane Bowles.

Altogether a very worthwhile read for anyone with any interest in Paul Bowles.

Ok, not shocking, but in my quest to discern what a career as a BMET (Biomedical Electronics Technician) involves, this book has been an outstanding resource. After corresponding with several leading BMETs in my area and many hours of Internet research, I can report that (to my knowledge) "Critical Careers" is the most complete single source of information for this career option in existence today. I don't say it's the only resource you should consult (I highly recommend corresponding with established BMETs in your area), but it should be first on your list.

Bowles' book is fairly short (around 120 pages of text--not including appendices), but quite valuable in that it answers every major question one should be asking about this career option. Included are discussions concerning schooling and certification, different kinds of employers, potential salary ranges, job requirements, career advancement and industry growth outlook, among other topics. Interspersed throughout the book are a few short letters from various "industry insiders" (usually in management positions) who give their own experiences, opinions and advice---I found these to be a valuable addition.

Just an added note about this book: Because there is so little written about this growing career field, _Critical Careers_ has been adopted by several state colleges and technical institutes and used as a standard course text in classrooms.

Participating schools include Texas State Technical College of Waco, TX; Indiana University - Purdue (IUPUI) of Indiannapolis, IN; and North Arkansas College of Harrison, AR.

This book provides an excellent excuse for exploring what was probably the last, or one of the last, places the existentialists and pseudo-existentialists of the world could ply their trade. Heck, Algiers is just around the corner and Camus was there, wasn't he? And all of those folks with money and "name" to keep tabs on. Ms. Green both buys into the hype and sees through it, so that you can't put the book down, even when sanity calls.

Tangier's unelected, though graciously accepting, ambassador was Paul Bowles, an ove writer and stoner who couldn't help but take himself much too seriously. (Gertrude Stein probably threatened to beat him up if he didn't.) Bowles is ultimately strange enough to be likable though, as well as insightful on the plight of "society existentialists." A REAL existentialist would have gone off and never have been heard from again, but not Mr. Bowles.

If you think the current world is a mess, reading Ms. Green's book will at least give you some contextual insights. On the surface, Tangier presents a picture of utter decadence, replete with the kinds of things that drive head coaches and parents crazy. But if you go on to read more about the North African context, especially using Bowles as your guide, a heady mixture of camp chronicles will emerge that greatly overshadows the issue of original sin. Tangier is the southernmost tip of Europe, it's architecture and topography perfectly suited to a stoner/blowhard assemblage of dukes, princesses, heirs and addicts, the kind of people who would have Key West towed by barge over to North Africa if they could, just in case they run out of gossip.

Here's the scenario as I see it: A bunch of wackos need to put some space between themselves and the normies so they can go to their own dinner parties and talk about their own weather. Paris it too crowded and foggy, so they book a room with a view of the harbor in Tangier and proceed to go further nuts. And that's about it, I guess.

The book is only partially about Bowles and really focuses on the excesses of the three ring circus that was Tangier. The head clown is Bill Burroughs, of course, a non-action, mainline writer who took , while up his hotel room with one of his guns, while throwing pages of his manuscript for "Naked Lunch" on the floor for mice to poop on and Ginsberg and Keroauc to later compile into a book. (And he wants to know, "Where's my Arab boy?") Keroauc should have made him do it, I tell you. So you keep going back to Bowles for some sanity and all you get is more insight into the insanity. Ms. Green is equally devious methinks, as she keeps throwing you tidbit after tidbit like you're some trained seal at the aquarium.

If anything, Bowles was a practical existentialist, one who instinctively followed a path away from the modern world into one inhabited by magic and magicians, and enough to keep you interested. The Moroccans perform vicariously for Bowles and Bowles performs vicariously for the West. Though the circus act got to be a bit wild at times, Bowles was quite a juggler, and, living on the cheap, he was able to control minds on a shoestring. And so it all worked out. There is no salvation in this world -- only diversions, armchair damnations, pulp fictions peddled as classics, intrigues better left on the drawing board, luggage to nowhere, extensive recollections of events, Burroughs, Capote - some of it tape-recorded by Bowles himself - enough to make you gag and chuck up some of your precious majoun.

Ms. Green's book will fascinate you, though. I can recommend at least two other Bowles books: "Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue" and "Conversations with Paul Bowles." I also have just ordered "Paul Bowles, Magic and Morocco." The Taschen book, "Morrocan Interiors," also lets you see some of the scenery and architecture and you can better understand how tailored the place is to being loaded and artsy. A veritable San Miguel de Allende on the beach.

Despite the insane frivolities chronicled in Ms. Green's book, and there are many, they ultimately are products of sick Westerners trying to get "out" by indulging themselves in something "exotic." A much more interesting world than the one we currently inhabit methinks.

This book will take you on an unattended amusement ride you may wish at some point to get off of. Tough: you paid, you're strapped in, you're dispensable. You'll just have to jump off mate and hope for the best. Then, you can get back on later, which you will. Anywhere in the book should do.

This isn't a strict literary biography of any of the individual authors that gathered for a time in Morocco, rather its a portrait of the night life (mostly) that all the celebrities literary and otherwise took part in while there. Its better than you might think though. Coming to this book for its literary interest is not a waste of time. There is an interesting segment about Brion Gysin and his club where the mountain musicians performed(would love to have seen that). But there is an awful lot of socialites up to no good ... too. Who gives a ... about Barbara Hutton? The interesting aspect of that though is that it shows the decadent westerners living it up in the lap of poverty. Artists go to places for different reasons than Mick Jagger(no offense Mick) does after all. It is the artists that make a place hip for the work they do while there. This book is in a way perhaps unconsciously an example of how hip gathers parasites and then the parasites take over,and after that happens the place becomes too expensive and too congested and too self-consciously hip for the real artists and they move on. This is Vanity Fair,the magazine, both the good and the bad(they have on occasion done a good literary piece). It is an entertaining read at least and loaded with good glossy black and white pictures and we all like a little decadence now and then, the parties are kinda cool. A good photo album with snapshot portraits of all the players but for the deeper story(you know the stories about the ones that actually wrote a book or two) read the bios of the individual artists.

Perhaps the most influential conduct book of the eighteenth century, Gregory's *Father's Legacy* is a must-read for any student of conduct literature -- right up there with Hannah More's *Strictures on Female Education* in its conservatism and prudery. If you want to understand where idiocies like *The Rules* come from, you'll find it here.

This is what may be called passing on "old fashioned" advice from father to daughter, but I think it is an example of a father who honestly cares enough about his daughters to advise them on what IS proper. I think these words ring just as true today as they did in 1796. I wish that publishers WOULD continue to keep works like this in print. Some valuable truths might be imparted on our society about the reality of human interaction.