1962 publicity photo of Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 - February 4, 1995) was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Strangers on a Train has been adapted to the screen three times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. In addition to her acclaimed series about murderer Tom Ripley, she wrote many short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humor. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. ... Strangers on a Train is a thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Thomas Ripley is the name of a literary character, and also the name of an English architect. ... This article is in need of attention. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled Black comedy and List of black comedies, accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Early life

Born Mary Patricia Plangman just outside Fort Worth, Texas, she was raised first by her maternal grandmother and later by her mother and stepfather, who were both commercial artists. Fort Worth is the sixth-largest city in the state of Texas, located about 30 miles west of Dallas on the West Fork Trinity River and forming part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. ... Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ...

Highsmith's mother Mary divorced her father five months before her birth. The young Highsmith had an intense, complicated relationship with her mother and resented her stepfather, although in later years she sometimes tried to win him over to her side of the argument in her confrontations with her mother. According to Highsmith, her mother once told her that she had tried to abort her by drinking turpentine. Highsmith never resolved this love-hate relationship, which haunted her for the rest of her life, and which she fictionalized in her short story "The Terrapin," in which a young boy stabs his mother to death. An abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. ... For the band, see Turpentine (band). ... A love-hate relationship is a personal relationship between humans or organizations, or figuratively between a human and an inanimate object, like a computer, a field of study, a body of ideas, or a profession, involving simultaneous or alternating emotions of love and enmity. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

Highsmith's grandmother taught her to read at an early age. Highsmith made good use of the extensive library of her mother and stepfather. At the age of eight, she discovered Karl Menninger's The Human Mind and was fascinated by the case studies of patients afflicted with mental disorders such as pyromania and schizophrenia. This article is about the psychiatrist. ... Mental disorder or mental illness are terms used to refer psychological pattern that occurs in an individual and is usually associated with distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture. ... Property damage caused by fire Pyromania is an obsession with fire and starting fires in an intentional fashion. ...

In 1942, Highsmith graduated from Barnard College, where she studied English composition, playwriting and the short story. Living in New York City and Mexico between 1942 and 1948, she wrote for comic book publishers, turning out two stories a day for $55-a-week paychecks. With Nedor/Standard/Pines (1942-43), she wrote Sgt. Bill King stories and contributed to Black Terror. For Real Fact, Real Heroes and True Comics, she wrote comic book profiles of Einstein, Galileo, Barney Ross, Edward Rickenbacker, Oliver Cromwell, Sir Isaac Newton, David Livingstone and others. In 1943-45 she wrote for Fawcett Publications, scripting for such Fawcett Comics characters as the Black Terror, Golden Arrow, Spy Smasher, Captain Midnight, Crisco and Jasper. She wrote for Western Comics in 1945-47. Barnard College, founded in 1889, is one of the four undergraduate divisions of Columbia University. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The Black Terror is a fictional character and a superhero who originally appeared in Exciting Comics #9, published by Nedor Comics in 1941. ... Einstein redirects here. ... Galileo can refer to: Galileo Galilei, astronomer, philosopher, and physicist (1564 - 1642) the Galileo spacecraft, a NASA space probe that visited Jupiter and its moons the Galileo positioning system Life of Galileo, a play by Bertolt Brecht Galileo (1975) - screen adaptation of the play Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon (Eddie) Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890-July 27, 1973) was an American fighter pilot who flew in World War I. He was born Edward Rickenbacher in Columbus, Ohio to Swiss immigrants. ... For other uses, see Oliver Cromwell (disambiguation). ... Sir Isaac Newton in Knellers portrait of 1689. ... David Livingstone (19 March 1813 – 4 May 1873) was a Scottish Presbyterian pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and explorer in central Africa. ... Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton Captain Billy Fawcett (1883-1940). ... Whiz Comics #2, the first appearance of Captain Marvel, the companys most popular character. ... The Black Terror is a fictional character and a superhero who originally appeared in Exciting Comics #9, published by Nedor Comics in 1941. ... Golden Arrow is a fictional character who had his own strip in Fawcett Comics Whiz Comics comic book series, from 1940 to 1953. ... Spy Smasher (real name Alan Armstrong) is a DC Comics superhero, formerly owned by Fawcett Comics. ... 1941 Big Little Book Captain Midnight was a U.S. radio serial broadcast from 1938 to 1949. ...

Career

At Truman Capote's suggestion, she rewrote her first novel, Strangers on a Train, at the Yaddo writer's colony in Saratoga Springs, New York. The book proved modestly successful when it was published in 1950. However, it was due to Hitchcock and his 1951 film adaptation of the novel that Highsmith's career and reputation catapulted. Soon she became known as a writer of ironic, disturbing psychological mysteries highlighted by stark, startling prose. Other filmmakers — primarily European — followed suit as several Highsmith novels, including The Blunderer (1954), This Sweet Sickness (1960), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) and Ripley's Game (1974) were adapted for films. Truman Capote (pronounced ) (30 September 1924 – 25 August 1984) was an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffanys (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a non-fiction novel. ... Yaddo was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1900 by the financier Spencer Trask and his wife Katrina, herself a poet, Nichols Trask, and philanthropist George Foster Peabody. ... Saratoga Springs redirects here. ... Strangers on a Train is a film released in 1951 by Warner Bros. ... This Sweet Sickness is a 1961 novel by Patricia Highsmith about a young man who fancies a girl and is convinced that they are going to be married in the near future. ... The Talented Mr. ... Ripleys Game is the third novel in Patricia Highsmiths Tom Ripley series (the Ripliad), written in 1974. ...

She was a lifelong diarist, and developed her writing style as a child writing entries in which she fantasized that her neighbours had psychological problems and murderous personalities behind their facades of normality, a theme she would explore extensively in her novels. == c programming[[a--203. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... In literature, a theme is a broad idea in a story, or a message or lesson conveyed by a work. ...

Highsmith included homosexual overtones in many of her novels and addressed the theme directly in The Price of Salt and the posthumously published Small g: a Summer Idyll. The Price is known for its happy ending, the first of its kind in homosexual/lesbian fiction. Published in 1953 under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, it sold almost a million copies. The inspiration for the book's main character, Carol, was a woman Highsmith saw in Bloomingdales, where she worked at the time. Highsmith found out her address from the credit card details, and on two occasions after the book was written (in June, 1950 and January, 1951) spied on the woman without the latter's knowledge. Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... The Price of Salt is a lesbian pulp novel written by Patricia Highsmith under the pen-name Claire Morgan. ... This article is about same-sex desire and sexuality among women. ... For other uses, see Fiction (disambiguation). ... A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ... Bloomingdales is an upscale department store owned by Federated Department Stores, which is also the owner of Macys. ... Look up credit card in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Personal life

According to her biography, Beautiful Shadow, Highsmith's personal life was a troubled one; she was an alcoholic who never had a relationship that lasted for more than a few years, and was seen by some of her contemporaries and acquaintances as misanthropic and cruel. She famously preferred the company of animals to that of people, and once said, "My imagination functions much better when I don't have to speak to people." This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ... Misanthropy is a general dislike of the human race. ...

Highsmith never married but had a number of affairs with both men and women. In 1949 she became close to the novelist Marc Brandel. Between 1959 and 1961, she had a relationship with Marijane Meaker, who wrote under the pseudonyms of Vin Packer and Ann Aldrich, but later wrote young adult fiction with the name M.E. Kerr. Meaker wrote of their affair in her memoir Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s. Marijane Meaker (born May 27, 1927) is an American writer who has used multiple pseudonyms for different genres, including Vin Packer for mystery novels, Ann Aldrich for lesbian non-fiction published as pulp, and M. E. Kerr and Mary James for young adult fiction. ...

She is sometimes labelled antisemitic because of her support of the Palestinian cause and because of comments she made to friends. She was accused of misogyny because of her satirical collection of short stories Little Tales of Misogyny. The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... This box:      Misogyny (IPA: ) is hatred or strong prejudice against women; an antonym of philogyny. ...

Though her writing — 22 novels and 7 books of short stories — was highly acclaimed, especially outside of the United States, Highsmith preferred for her personal life to remain private. She had friendships and correspondences with several writers, and was also greatly inspired by art and the animal kingdom. Highsmith believed in American democratic ideals and in the promise of US history, but she was also highly critical of the reality of 20th-century American culture and foreign policy. In 1963 she moved to Europe, where she spent the rest of her life. For other uses, see Democracy (disambiguation). ... A countrys foreign policy is a set of political goals that seeks to outline how that particular country will interact with other countries of the world and, to a lesser extent, non-state actors. ...

Novels

The protagonists in many of Highsmith's novels are either morally compromised by circumstance or actively flouting the law. Many of her antiheroes commit murder in fits of passion, or simply to extricate themselves from a bad situation. They are just as likely to escape justice as to receive it. Image File history File links Beautifulshadow. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central or supporting character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers or viewers. ...

Her recurring character Tom Ripley, an amoral, bisexual, sociopathic multiple murderer, was featured in a total of five novels, known to fans as the Ripliad, written between 1955 and 1991. He was first introduced in The Talented Mr. Ripley (Coward-McCann, 1955). After a January 9, 1956 TV adaptation on Studio One, it was filmed by René Clément as Plein Soleil (1960, aka Purple Noon and Blazing Sun) with Alain Delon, whom Highsmith praised as the ideal Ripley. The novel was adapted under its original title as a 1999 film by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett. A later Ripley novel, Ripley's Game, was filmed by Wim Wenders as The American Friend (1977). Under its original title, it was filmed again in 2002, directed by Liliana Cavani with John Malkovich in the title role. Ripley Under Ground (2005), starring Barry Pepper as Ripley was shown at the 2005 AFI Film Festival but has not had a general release. The Ripliad is a name given to the series of five books based around the exploits of Thomas Ripley. ... The Talented Mr. ... is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Studio One was an American dramatic television anthology series, sponsored by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. ... René Clément, born on March 18, 1913 in Bordeaux, in the Gironde département of France - died on March 17, 1996, in Monte Carlo, Monaco, was a film director and screenwriter. ... Plein Soleil (Purple Noon) is a 1960 movie directed by René Clément, based on The Talented Mr. ... Alain Delon (born 8 November 1935) is a French-born actor, one of the best known outside his native country. ... The Talented Mr. ... Anthony Minghella (born January 6, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning British film director, playwright and screenwriter. ... Matthew Paige Matt Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American screenwriter and actor. ... Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (born September 27, 1972[1]) is an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. ... David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an Academy Award-nominated English actor. ... Catherine Élise Blanchett (born on May 14, 1969) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning Australian actress. ... Ripleys Game is the third novel in Patricia Highsmiths Tom Ripley series (the Ripliad), written in 1974. ... Ernst Wilhelm (Wim) Wenders (born August 14, 1945) is a German film director, playwright, photographer, and producer. ... Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend) is a Wim Wenders 1977 film, based loosely on Patricia Highsmiths novel, Ripleys Game. ... Category: ... John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, producer and director. ... Alex Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970 in Campbell River, British Columbia) is a Canadian-born actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Highsmith died of leukemia in 1995 in Locarno, Switzerland, aged 74. In gratitude to the place that helped inspire her writing career, she left her estate, worth an estimated $3 million, to the Yaddo colony. Her last novel, Small g: a Summer Idyll, was published posthumously a month later. Leukemia or leukaemia (Greek leukos, “white”; haima, “blood”) (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ... Locarno is a city located on Lake Maggiore (Lago Maggiore) in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona. ...

Listen to

• 1987 RealAudio interview with Patricia Highsmith by Don Swaim

Don Swaim is an American journalist, writer, and broadcaster. ...

Bibliography

Image File history File links Highnothing. ...

Novels

• Strangers on a Train (1950)
• The Price of Salt (as Claire Morgan) (1953), also published as Carol
• The Blunderer (1954)
• The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
• Deep Water (1957)
• A Game for the Living (1958)
• This Sweet Sickness (1960)
• The Two Faces of January (1961)
• The Cry of the Owl (1962)
• The Glass Cell (1964)
• A Suspension of Mercy (1965), also published as The Story-teller
• Those Who Walk Away (1967)
• The Tremor of Forgery (1969)
• Ripley Under Ground (1970)
• A Dog's Ransom (1972)
• Ripley's Game (1974)
• Edith's Diary (1977)
• The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)
• People Who Knock on the Door (1983)
• Found in the Street (1987)
• Ripley Under Water (1991)
• Small g: a Summer Idyll (1995)

Children's book of verse and drawings: Strangers on a Train is a thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Price of Salt is a lesbian pulp novel written by Patricia Highsmith under the pen-name Claire Morgan. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Talented Mr. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... Deep Water is a crime novel by Patricia Highsmith, first published in 1957. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This Sweet Sickness is a 1961 novel by Patricia Highsmith about a young man who fancies a girl and is convinced that they are going to be married in the near future. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Ripley Under Ground is the second of the Ripliad by Patricia Highsmith. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ripleys Game is the third novel in Patricia Highsmiths Tom Ripley series (the Ripliad), written in 1974. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... The Boy Who Followed Ripley is the fourth book of Patricia Highsmiths series (known among critics and fans as the Ripliad) revolving around career criminal Tom Ripley. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Ripley Under Water is the final in Patricia Highsmiths series of 5 books known as the Ripliad. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ...

• Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda (with Doris Sanders) (1958)

Writing manual: Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction (1966)

Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ...

Story collections

• Eleven (1970), also published as The Snail-Watcher and Other Stories
• Little Tales of Misogyny (1974)
• The Animal Lover's Book of Beastly Murder (1975)
• Slowly, Slowly in the Wind (1979)
• The Black House (1981)
• Mermaids on the Golf Course (1985)
• Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes (1987)

Short story collections put together by her publishers after her death:

• Nothing That Meets the Eye: The Uncollected Stories (2002)
• Man's Best Friend and Other Stories (2004)

Awards

• 1946 : O. Henry Award for best publication of first story, for "The Heroine" in Harper's Bazaar
• 1951 : Edgar Award nominee for best first novel, for Strangers on a Train
• 1956 : Edgar Award nominee for best novel, for The Talented Mr. Ripley
• 1957 : Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, for The Talented Mr. Ripley
• 1963 : Edgar Award nominee for best short story, for "The Terrapin"
• 1964 : Silver Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain
• 1990 : Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture

The O. Henry Awards are yearly prizes given to short stories of exceptional merit. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Harpers & Queen. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ... The Grand Prix de Littérature Policière is a French literary prize founded in 1948 by author and literary critic Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ... The Gold Dagger was an award given annually by the CWA for best crime novel of the year. ... The Crime Writers Association is a writers association in the UK. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Robert Richardson and claims 450 members. ... The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (the Order of Arts and Letters) is an Order (decoration) of France, established on May 2, 1957 by the Minister of Culture in recognition of outstanding achievement in the arts and literature. ...

External links

• Detective fiction website Highsmith bibliography
• Review of Beautiful Shadow
• Ron Collins, "Heart Failure": Review of Nothing Meets the Eye: The Uncollected Stories of Patricia Highsmith
• Patricia Highsmith Papers at the Swiss Literary Archives
• Swiss National Library
• Patricia Highsmith reviews and discussion
• Reviews of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, and Ripley's Game at Boldtype.com