Paul Bowles, Magic and Morocco

Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy Book
Review: Allen Hibbard's Paul Bowles, Magic and Morocco is a moving and unique memoir that exhibits both scholarly admiration and homage to his friend Paul Bowles. Hibbard sets the stage by creating an interesting genealogy of writers prior to Bowles (for example Washington Irving (1829), Pierre Loti (1889), and Henri Matisse (1912), just to mention a few) to demonstrate that many writers often seek exotic places to nurture their imagination, which may result in very magical and exotic narratives. The memoir shifts to an intimate look of Bowles's life, which highlights Hibbard's own personal tale of how he is attracted to the exotic allure and magic of Morocco and the Middle East. Hibbard recounts his own acquaintance and experience with Moroccan and Arabic cultures, and his meeting of the Mage of Morocco --Paul Bowles. Moving forward into the time and space after Bowles death, Hibbard talks to his friend's spirit in a letter, which is emotionally stirring and well done.

Regardless of your experience with reading Paul Bowles, I personally recommend this book. The genealogy provides an easy to read and entertaining overview of several notable writers. In addition, the book presents a very interesting sample of magic and myths in North Africa. The movement through time and space that spans from the early writers, through the life of Paul Bowles, and ends with a letter to Bowles's spirit is beautifully done. The book's narrative, like its intriguing cover, is guaranteed to cast a magical spell on whoever reads it.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy Book
Review: Allen Hibbard's Paul Bowles, Magic and Morocco is a moving and unique memoir that exhibits both scholarly admiration and homage to his friend Paul Bowles. Hibbard sets the stage by creating an interesting genealogy of writers prior to Bowles (for example Washington Irving (1829), Pierre Loti (1889), and Henri Matisse (1912), just to mention a few) to demonstrate that many writers often seek exotic places to nurture their imagination, which may result in very magical and exotic narratives. The memoir shifts to an intimate look of Bowles's life, which highlights Hibbard's own personal tale of how he is attracted to the exotic allure and magic of Morocco and the Middle East. Hibbard recounts his own acquaintance and experience with Moroccan and Arabic cultures, and his meeting of the Mage of Morocco --Paul Bowles. Moving forward into the time and space after Bowles death, Hibbard talks to his friend's spirit in a letter, which is emotionally stirring and well done.

Regardless of your experience with reading Paul Bowles, I personally recommend this book. The genealogy provides an easy to read and entertaining overview of several notable writers. In addition, the book presents a very interesting sample of magic and myths in North Africa. The movement through time and space that spans from the early writers, through the life of Paul Bowles, and ends with a letter to Bowles's spirit is beautifully done. The book's narrative, like its intriguing cover, is guaranteed to cast a magical spell on whoever reads it.

Rating:
Summary: artfully, beautifully, sensually written
Review: Hibbard's book offers a behind-the-scenes look at Paul Bowles's life and literature, and the author's Bowles-as-magician interpretation will only enhance anything you've ever read by Bowles. Hibbard periodically inserts passages from Bowles's stories and letters to emphasize his points and to show parallels between Paul's reality and fantasy worlds--ultimately showing how the magician fused those two worlds into one. By revealing to readers how Bowles's fiction thrust him into Bowles's real life, Hibbard subtly, artfully becomes a magician himself, walking the same lines between fantasy and reality throughout his friendship with Paul, remembering fictional situations as real ones take place. Although Hibbard's intent wasn't to convince as much as it was to present, I was thoroughly convinced by the end of this book that Bowles was somehow more than mortal. The author demonstrates a broad knowledge of Bowles, his fellow literary friends, his critics, and North Africa in general, yet the book never sounds as if it were written by an academic. Instead, Hibbard's voice is friendly and welcoming, and he seems eager to lead his readers into an exotic world: I was willingly grabbed by the hand and led through Tangier, into Paul's home, to the Moroccan coast to sip mint tea. Rarely is non-fiction as beautifully presented as it is in this book!

Rating:
Summary: An in-depth work of literary criticism
Review: Paul Bowles, Magic & Morocco by academician, reviewer, essayist, and translator Allen Hibbard addresses the life and work of expatriate author Paul Bowles. An in-depth work of literary criticism that transcends boundaries to explore the occult forces that permeated Bowles' life, the Moroccan mysteries and North African customs, culture, and magic he studied, the mystical influence drugs, sex, and music, and much more. Paul Bowles, Magic & Morocco takes a personal turn as author Hibbard dares to speak to Bowles directly, addressing him from beyond the grave. A college-level analysis, seeking to define unimaginable forces and expressions.