He wrote The Sheltering Sky.

He loved Women and Men.

He moved to Morocco to make his own rules.

Filmed on location in Tangier, Morocco, Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider is about the masterful writer of The Sheltering Sky. Considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, Bowles has led an enigmatic, paradoxical existence, living on the outskirts of accepted moral behavior in harsh, but beautiful Morocco. The film explores Bowles' development as a writer and composer and his complicated marriage to fellow author Jane Bowles, a union that lasted several decades, although both were gay and had numerous homosexual affairs. As an icon to The Beat Generation, his writing and his life have influenced everyone from William Burroughs (whose Naked Lunch was inspired by Bowles), to David Cronenberg's film of the same name, to Bernardo Bertolucci, whose film adaptation of The Sheltering Sky was a critical and popular hit.

In The Complete Outsider, Bowles speaks about his writing, his music, his use of drugs and his array of friends - including W.H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, Aaron Copland, Gertrude Stein, and Allen Ginsberg, who appears in the film. Together with rare archival footage and photos, this invaluable film reveals a man who has always made his own rules.

"A fabulous film! You want to see it over and over again!" - Washington Post

"A sharp witted film... Bowles brought distant realms of landscape and mind close to the heart of American literature." - New York Times

"A tantalizing sketch of the legendary expatriate!" - Los Angeles Times