I read this book in the first couple of months after I moved to Tucson. It was hot every single day, and I didn’t know anyone, which allowed the oppressive heat and alienation of the book to get under my skin. I was very moved by this book, and not in a good way. Here’s a quote:

“Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.”

Highlights

⚖️ Expectations vs Reality

Expectations: to read a random book. Reality: panic attack

🍻 Would I get a beer with the author?

Paul Bowles and his wife Jane Bowles were both gay and they split their time between Tangier and Sri Lanka in the 50s. I would be very curious to hear about their lives.