Too Far From Home: Selected Writings of Paul Bowles, ed. Daniel Halperin (Ecco, 1993)
More well-known for his music in some circles (including having some of his recordings put out under erroneous credit to Brion Gysin!), Paul Bowles was one of those expatriate authors to live a more traveled and decadent life before it was fashionable, influencing Burroughs and the Beat era - but being far superior in every way, literary and lifestyle, through and through; Burroughs couldn't do under the influence of heroin what this guy did with just a little hash. This collection contains a novella, some fiction stories, novel excerpts, some non-fiction, and an interview. So far I've only read the short stories and started the novella (published posthumously), but I really can say without hyperbole this guy's work is much better than the great majority of so-called "transgressive" authors, with a couple exceptions. Gorgeous imagery, razor-sharp subtlety and wit, a sort of magical lyricism, and of course extremely brutal and often sudden violence. You can get his reading "A Hundred Camels in the Courtyard" or his music "The Pool K III" from Dom America to accompany this fine tome or instead pair it with anything by Amph, Organum, or maybe even Randy Greif and you'll do just fine.
