"Their Heads are Green and their Hands are Blue" is an engaging collection of eight travel essays. Except for one essay on Central America, all of these pieces are concerned with locations in the Hindu, Buddhist, or Islamic worlds. A superb and observant traveler, Paul Bowles was a born wanderer who found pleasure in the inaccessible and who cheerfully endures the concomitant hardships with a matter-of-fact humor.
These essays provide us with Paul Bowles' characteristic insightfulness and bring us closer to a world we frequently hear about, but often find difficult to understand.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York
Description: Very Good in Good+ jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. (1963) 208 pp. Original green cloth covers w/ gilt title on spine. Spine ends bumped. DJ lightly soiled and rubbed w/ wear and few short tears to edges; approx. 3 1/2" and approx. 2 1/4" closed tears at bottom edge of front panel. Spine darkened. Illust. w/ b/w photos. Contents very nice. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: Near Fine in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Green cloth boards, gilt lettering on spine, blue top edge, very slight slant, pages clean & tight. DJ price-clipped with a few small closed tears & slightly darkened spine, protected by mylar cover. Scenes from the Non-Christian World. Collection of nine travel essays. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: [1963]
Description: Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. Dustjacket reinforced from inside with tape at spine ends shows edgewear, top edges sunned, else NF/VG or better in mylar wrap. First printing. 206 p. illus. 22 cm. read more
Edition: First
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: (1963)
Description: First edition. Fine in a slightly age-toned, ine and crisp dustwrapper with just a touch of the usual tanning to the white parts of the spine. A nicer than usual copy of this collection of nine travel essays. read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, NY
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fine. F-/VG+ 1st edition, 1st printing. Jacket has chipping at spine and flap fold ends and slightly tone spine. We offer a LIFETIME GUARANTEE. See KHBOOKS for details. read more
Edition: 1963 Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York: Random House
Date Published: 1963
Description: Description: 206 p. : illus.; 22 cm. Subjects: Morocco--Description and travel--India--Tropics. Fine cloth copy in a near fine dw. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. 1. pp. 206. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Random House, 1963. First.
Description: A fine copy, but for minimal staining to upper page edges, in a very good dj, much better but for some scattered insect nibbling--mostly to spine. Illustrated with photographs. read more
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Peter Owen, London
Date Published: 1985
Description: The second British edition of a title first published in 1963. Inscribed by the author: "For Mary Robbins/ with best/ Paul B. / 17/XII/92/ Tangier. " A fine copy, lacking the dust jacket. read more
Edition: 1st Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York, Random House
Date Published: 1963
Description: Description: 206 p. illus. 22 cm. Subjects: Tropics--Description and travel. Fine cloth copy in a good if somewhat edge-torn, dust-dulled, price-clipped dust-wrapper, now mylar-sleeved. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and strong. 1. pp. 206. read more
Edition: 1963 Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York: Random House
Date Published: 1963
Description: Description: 206 p. : illus.; 22 cm. Subjects: Morocco--Description and travel--India--Tropics. Fine cloth copy in a near fine dw. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. read more
Edition: First Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE., NY
Date Published: 1963
Description: Dust Jacket Included. Close to fine in a Nf. dj. (Usual light age toning to spine on dj. Small soil spot at midspine on dj. A few short edge tears & mild traces of shelfwear to dj. ) Travel essays. read more
Edition: 1st Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York, Random House
Date Published: 1963
Description: Description: 206 p. illus. 22 cm. Subjects: Tropics--Description and travel. Fine cloth copy in a good if somewhat edge-torn, dust-dulled, price-clipped dust-wrapper, now mylar-sleeved. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and strong. read more
Binding: Hardcover/Ex-Library
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fair. Fair/No Jacket c. 1963, turquoise bds., illus., 206pp., (shelf wear, corners bumped, spine somewhat cocked, covers faded-discolored, small water stain to lower page corners, some crinkling and half moons from page turning, binding good) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2006-06-01
ISBN-13:9780061137372ISBN:0061137375
Description: Like New. Never Owned Or Read! May Have Light Shelf Wear And Or Publisher Mark. NEW CONDITION OTHER THAN PUBLISHERS REMAINDER MARK! read more
"This is a collection of nine travel essays on journeys to Central America, then Ceylon, India, Turkey, and Morocco, where the author lived for many years. His pieces on the Sahara and the Rif (the mountainous region of north Morocco) are especially good, since he spoke French and some Tamazight and had sympathy with the locals. Anybody that has read his credible novel The Sheltering Sky will know that Bowles keenly observes but leaves it up to the reader to draw conclusions."
"Even if you aren't traveling in a Muslim (or non-Christian country), read these essays if you want a good view into the mind of an expat writer grappling with his Western understanding of the non-Western world. The pieces on Morocco are great, particularly "Africa Minor" and "The Rif, to Music". It's fascinating to watch Bowles veer from orientalist stereotyping to a profound desire to grasp and respect the culture of North Africa, particularly as he narrates his quest to record native music from every corner of Morocco."
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