Greg Girard Reflects on Paul Bowles's Literary Influence and Personal Correspondence

Greg Girard discovered Paul Bowles's 1952 novel Let It Come Down in a bookshop, drawn by its stark Macbeth quote. Bowles's prose evokes a 1950s black-and-white film aesthetic, portraying American expatriates in Tangier's International Zone, dispatched by corporate duty rather than curiosity, reflecting postwar U.S. expansion. The term 'exotic' in Bowles's work subverts Western ignorance, showing Westerners unprotected abroad. Girard immersed himself in Bowles's out-of-print books, republished by Black Sparrow Press in Santa Barbara, California, with poetry-like covers on uncoated paper. After a friend's car theft where only the Bowles novel was stolen, Girard wrote to Bowles via his publisher, receiving a reply in a robin's egg blue air mail envelope with Moroccan stamps from Tangier. This personal connection highlights Bowles's enduring impact through his sparse, alienating narratives and the physicality of his publications.