Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
This 1993 documentary conceived and directed by Catherine Warnow and Regina Weinreich is an at times disturbing but always fascinating portrait of the enigmatic and reclusive author who many call the original expatriate and the godfather of the Beat Generation. Using the environment of present day Tangiers as a springboard, the film charts the life of Paul Bowles, from his privileged upbringing to his promising career as a celebrated composer on Broadway in 1930s and '40s New York to his move at the suggestion of Gertrude Stein into the expatriate community of Morocco, a mysterious land and culture from which Bowles never left. Bowles is seen in the environment that most suits him; as he says, 'I never make plans; they make themselves.' The documentary also details the complex and tumultuous relationship between the author of such seminal works as The Sheltering Sky, Delicate Prey, and Without Stopping and his wife Jane, from her attempts at writing and her alcoholism to their respective affairs with both men and women. Featuring testimonials from such notables as Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, what emerges in Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider is an indispensable and evocative portrait of one of the most influential writers of this century. --Robert Lane

---

Related Items:
    see more

Related Items:

• Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles
• Paul Bowles: Halfmoon
• The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (Deluxe Two-Disc Set)
• Baptism of Solitude
• see more

---

Rating: - Model Documentary About a Writer
I don't think any writer has ever been served as well by a documentary as Paul Bowles is in this excellent film. There are stimulating interviews with Bowles and his critics and friends, and the differces and contradictions in their views are thoroughly explored. Allen Ginsberg gives a remarkable, lucid explication of Bowles' world-view, and others give honest glimpses into his fascinating life. The filmakers pull off the impossible trick of being severely objective and sympathetic at the same time; their approach is the journalistic equal of Bowles prose style. Includes excerpts from Bowles' lively musical compositions. Bowles was a terrifying, implacable writer but he had something important so say, and fans of "The Sheltering Sky", "A Distant Episode" and his other work should not miss this.

---

Rating: - Wonderful portait of Paul Bowles
For anyone who loves the writings of Paul Bowles and is just as intrigued by the man himself, see this documentary...