BOOKS
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some of Bowles's friends (for example, Bruce Morrisette, Ned Rorem,
Daniel Burns, and Virgil Thomson), some of which help us come to
know more about the inner nature of our subject. The range of sources
Sawyer-Law;anno has made use of, however, is simply inadequate. The
holes are glaringly evident. Either
Sawyer-Lau~anno
didn't bother to
look up the people he should have talked to or they wouldn't talk to
him. Where is Gore Vidal? Or long-time friend and fellow Tangier resi–
dent Gavin Lambert? Or Joseph McPhillips, head of the American School
in Tangier? Daniel Halperin? The Honorable David Herbert? Leonard
Bernstein? Or Phillip Ramey, an American composer who has spent
considerable time with Mr. Bowles in Tangier?
We shall have to wait for the biography which Bowles deserves. It
is hard to imagine that future biographers will not be attracted to such
an enigmatic and alluring figure. This first biography leaves much to be
done by successors. The greatest value of
Sawyer-Lau~anno's
book,
perhaps, is that its publication has drawn considerable attention to
Bowles and his work. Given the controversial nature of Bowles's subject
matter and his life (which tend to make of him a scapegoat or an idol),
it is little wonder that his reputation is still unresolved. Some, evidently,
are still wondering whether Bowles is as good as he is said to be. We
should keep in mind that other American writers, such as Melville, Poe
and Whitman, with whom Bowles has affinities, have seen their reputa–
tions go up and down and around the roller-coaster of criticism before
finally reaching a position of relative equilibrium.
It
may take more time
for the dust to settle in order for us to see Bowles's art and life in an
objective light.
ALLEN HIBBARD
The Pugnacity Syndrome
CONTINGENCY, IRONY, AND SOliDARITY. By Richard Rorty.
Cambridge
University Press. $10.95.
REPRESENTATION AND REAliTY. By Hilary Putnam. M.LT.
Press.
$19.95.
Richard Rorty and Hilary Putnam are two of the dominant figures in
contemporary American philosophy. While Putnam has flourished at
Harvard, gradually growing in stature until he moved easily into the gap
created by W .V. Quine's retirement, Rorty was catapulted into national
