All the stories have the exciting immediacy of life. Especially "A Distant Episode," about an English Professor who wants "real" experiences in a small town on the edge of the Sahara. He is taken by a guide throughout the town and at the end is led to steep cliff at the bottom of which he hear the music and drums of a primitive tribe. The guide who clearly does not want to go down the trail starts the professor down and then leaves him. He stumbles down the hill and is caught by several tribal members who beat him into near unconsciousness. Suddenly his tongue is cut out, and Bowles describes his captivity as a "dancing bear" for the tribe.

The Professor's life suddenly and irretrievably becomes a nightmare. The story's description brings it all to life as a horror ending a year later, with the professor escaping out to the desert and certain death. ( )

Absolutely, positively phenomenal. Bowles is so often known just for "Sheltering Sky," which is a terrific novel -- but these stories are delicate, precise, often enigmatic, and almost always beautiful. ( )