Born in 1917, Jane Bowles published her first novel Two Serious Ladies when she was only 26. Though she wrote only one novel, one play, and a few short stories, Jane Bowles has long been admired as a “writer’s writer;” her work has never received significant popular attention, but Bowles has often been cited as a major influence by other writers, including Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams, and John Ashbery, who considered her to be one of the finest and most underrated writers of American fiction. Known for her subtle observations and acute problem with writer’s block, her greatest legacy is her copious journals. Fluent in French, Spanish, and Arabic, Bowles enjoyed a nomadic life and spent much of her time traveling with husband Paul Bowles, living in Tangiers, Paris, Mexico, and Brooklyn Heights.
Works
Two Serious Ladies 1943
Andrew 1946
Emmy Moore’s Journal 1948
Going to Massachusetts 1949
In Summer House 1954
Plain Pleasures 1966
Notebooks