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You are Not I: A Portrait of Paul Bowles
 
 
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You are Not I: A Portrait of Paul Bowles (Hardcover)

by Millicent Dillon (Author) "It was March 11, 1977. I was waiting in the inner courtyard of the Hotel Villa de France for Paul Bowles to arrive ..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 354 pages
  • Publisher: University of California Press; illustrated edition edition (14 April 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0520211049
  • ISBN-13: 978-0520211049
  • Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 15 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,650,419 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
"Dillon's prose is spare and supple, and her offbeat approach to her 'portrait' works like a charm . . . The service Dillon has done Bowles and his admirers is rare and welcome. Where previously we've had only freeze-frame shots of him, it's now as if we can see him in action . . . A pleasure to read in itself, "You Are Not I undoubtedly will become a treasured primary source for future Bowles biographers."--"Washington Post Book World

Product Description
The famously enigmatic writer-composer Paul Bowles is the subject of Millicent Dillon's unforgettable new book. Her portrait of the chameleon like artist is much more than an account of Bowles' life, however. It is also a meditation on biography that questions the biographer's role, the subject's credibility, and the very nature of "truth" in the telling of a life. Millicent Dillon first met Paul Bowles in Tangier in 1977, when she was writing a biography of his wife, the author Jane Bowles, who died in 1973. Dillon returned to Morocco in 1992 to work with Bowles on a book about his own life. In Bowles' book-lined apartment often crowded with visitors, Dillon observes the magnetism the aging artist exerts on anyone who comes into his circle.Bowles talks of his difficult childhood and of his grief over Jane's long illness, of exile, dreams, and madness. He is charming and evasive with Dillon, generous and devious. As the book unfolds, Dillon's own reflections and concerns surface alongside details of Bowles' daily life, his physical condition, his interactions with others. Her portrait of the artist is seen simultaneously with her construction of that portrait, and in a kind of literary legerdemain we are able to observe Dillon on the biographical canvas along with Bowles and his deceased wife. Author of the international bestseller "The Sheltering Sky" and numerous other works, as well as an acclaimed composer, Paul Bowles has had an immensely rich creative life. Millicent Dillon seems to have been destined to write this unconventional biography of the artist, and the result is wonderful, disturbing, and strangely compelling, like Paul Bowles himself.
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It was March 11, 1977. I was waiting in the inner courtyard of the Hotel Villa de France for Paul Bowles to arrive. Read the first page
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4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3.0 out of 5 stars Was she had?, 10 Aug 1998
By A Customer
Just finished the book. Fascinating in its detail about Bowles' life in North Africa. But, a new form of biography? No, I don't think so. Rather, a series of extended interviews with Dillon's highly subjective and personal analytical apparatus attached to them. Or, simply a memoir. I think there is a great danger of loss of perspective when a writer admires his / her subject too much, as well as admiring too much his / her relationship with the subject. I had this uncanny feeling all throughout the book that Bowles, as he did with other people he knew, was stringing Dillon along, knowing he could hand here just about anything for posterity. The photograph on the back fold of the dust jacket speaks volumes, as Dillon gazes in what looks like rapture upon an apparently inert Bowles. He wasn't that good of a writer. And, I disagree with both of them. Sheltering Sky was a fine film....
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5.0 out of 5 stars Yes! Read this book., 20 Jun 1998
By A Customer
Yes, read this book. I liked it because I felt I was in this exotic, strangely present yet distant place, with Paul & Millicent Dillon. And also Jane. Maybe you know what I mean if you like Paul Bowles.

This is a loving book. It is a pleasant place to be -- with elements of disturbance, as you would expect. It is an addition to what you already have.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Bowles insight, Dillon too interested in herself., 19 Jun 1998
By A Customer
Having spent a good deal of time reading the work of Paul Bowles, I found it an interesting read for the fact that it gave insight to Bowles and his recollections of life in a fascinating time. A time of which he shaped a piece. He's a tremendously interesting character, all the more engaging because of his modesty and self effacing style.

I found Millicent Dillon's style to be rather annoying, however. Dillon constantly returns to a focus on herself. She writes endlessly about herself, how she feels, how she writes, how she fits into it all - and that's not why I bought the book. I wanted to read about Bowles, and found Dillon putting herself into way too much of the book. She'd never be mistaken for a fly on the wall.

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5.0 out of 5 stars An Engaging Mix of Memoir and Biography
Millicent Dillon, who wrote a wonderful critical biography of Jane Bowles, has presented readers with an equally engaging examination of Jane Bowles' husband Paul Bowles. Read more
Published on 2 Jun 1998

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