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Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith
Publicity photo from 1962
Publicity photo from 1962
BornMary Patricia Plangman
(1921-01-19)January 19, 1921
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 1995(1995-02-04) (aged 74)
Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland
Pen nameClaire Morgan (1952)
OccupationNovelist, short story writer
LanguageEnglish
EducationJulia Richman High School
Alma materBarnard College (BA)
Period1942–1995
GenreSuspense, psychological thriller, crime fiction, romance
Literary movementModernist literature
Notable works
Signature

Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995)[1] was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories in a career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing was influenced by existentialist literature,[2] and questioned notions of identity and popular morality.[3] She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene.[4]

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, and mostly raised in her infancy by her maternal grandmother, Highsmith moved to New York City at the age of six to live with her mother and step father. After graduating college in 1942, she worked as a writer for comic books while writing her own short stories and novels in her spare time. Her literary breakthrough came with the publication of her first novel Strangers on a Train (1950) which was adapted into a 1951 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Her 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley was well received in the United States and Europe, cementing her reputation as a major exponent of psychological thrillers.

In 1963, Highsmith moved to England where her critical reputation continued to grow. Following the breakdown of her relationship with a married Englishwoman, she moved to France in 1967 to try to rebuild her life. Her sales were now higher in Europe than in the United States which her agent attributed to her subversion of the conventions of American crime fiction. She moved to Switzerland in 1982 where she continued to publish new work that increasingly divided critics. The last years of her life were marked by ill health and she died of aplastic anemia and lung cancer in Switzerland in 1995.

The Times said of Highsmith: "she puts the suspense story in a toweringly high place in the hierarchy of fiction."[5]: 180  Her second novel, The Price of Salt, published under a pseudonym in 1952, was ground breaking for its positive depiction of lesbian relationships and optimistic ending.[6]: 1 [7] She remains controversial for her antisemitic, racist and misanthropic statements.[8]

  1. ^ "Mary P Highsmith". FamilySearch. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (From the United States Social Security Administration Death Master File).
  2. ^ Shore, Robert (January 7, 2000). "The talented Ms Highsmith". The Guardian. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Wilson, Andrew (May 24, 2003). "Ripley's enduring allure". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ Highsmith, Patricia (1970). "Foreword". Eleven (1st ed.). William Heinemann Ltd. p. xi. ISBN 0-434-33510-X.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bradford2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Meaker2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference talbot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brooks17Jan2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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