Paul Bowles books in order
American composer and writer
- Lived
- 1910–1999
- Country
- United States
- Books
- 22
Paul Bowles published 4 novels, 3 novellas, 7 short story collections, 4 non-fiction books and 4 other books, beginning with The Sheltering Sky (1949).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Paul Bowles
Start here
The Sheltering Sky
Paul Bowles's most-read book.
Standalone novels in order
The Sheltering Sky (1949)
Let It Come Down (1952)
Up Above the World (1966)
A Distant Episode (1996)
Novellas in order
A Hundred Camels in the Courtyard (1962)
Points in Time (1990)
Too Far From Home (1992)
Short story collections in order
The Delicate Prey and Other Stories (1950)
Collected Stories, 1939-1976 (1979)
Midnight Mass (1986)
Unwelcome Words (1988)
A Thousand Days for Mokhtar, and Other Stories (1989)
Collected Stories & Later Writings (2002)
The Stories of Paul Bowles (2006)
Non-fiction in order
Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue (1984)
Without Stopping (1989)
Paul Bowles on Music (2003)
Days (2006)
Other books in order
Next to Nothing (1976)
She Woke Me Up So I Killed Her (1985)
Two Years Beside the Strait (1990)
In Touch (1994)
Film and TV adaptations
- The Sheltering Sky (1990)Film · from The Sheltering Sky
About Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his life.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Paul Bowles FAQ
- How many books has Paul Bowles written?
- Paul Bowles published 4 novels, 3 novellas, 7 short story collections, 4 non-fiction books and 4 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Paul Bowles's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Sheltering Sky.
- What is Paul Bowles's last book?
- A Distant Episode (1996).
- What is Paul Bowles's most famous book?
- The Sheltering Sky (1949) is Paul Bowles's most widely read book.
- Which Paul Bowles books have been adapted?
- 1 book has been adapted for film or TV, including The Sheltering Sky (film, 1990).
Authors like Paul Bowles
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Aldous Huxley
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D. H. Lawrence
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John Dos Passos
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E. E. Cummings
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Vita Sackville-West
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.