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Patricia Highsmith

  • Claire Morgan
  • Mary Patricia Plangman
Sort Name
Highsmith, Patricia
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Type
Person
Gender
Female
Date of birth
1921-01-19
Place of birth
Fort Worth
Date of death
1995-02-04
Place of death
Locarno

Wikipedia

Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) 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, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, and mostly raised in her infancy by her maternal grandmother, Highsmith was taken to New York City at the age of six to live with her mother and stepfather. 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.": 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.: 1  She remains controversial for her antisemitic, racist and misanthropic statements.

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Annotation

Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer.

Last modified: 2020-11-08 (revision #40580)

Editions

NameFormatISBNRelease Date
Venedig kann sehr kalt seinPaperback3-499-42202-61978-10
Der StümperPaperback3-257-20136-21976
Der talentierte Mr. Ripley (SZ Bibliothek)Hardcover3-937793-13-52004
Lösegeld für einen HundPaperback3-257-20345-41983
Der talentierte Mr. Ripley (dtv 975)Paperback3-423-00975-61974-02
Elsie's LebenslustPaperback3-257-21660-21988
Der GeschichtenerzählerPaperback3-257-20174-51985
Die gläserne Zelle (yellow text on black background)Paperback3-257-20343-81991
Venedig kann sehr kalt sein (SZ Kriminalbibliothek)Hardcover978-3-86615-227-42006
Ediths Tagebuch (yellow cover with black rim)Paperback3-257-20485-X1985
Der Schrei der EulePaperback3-257-20341-11984
Das Zittern des FälschersPaperback3-257-20344-61991
Der süße WahnPaperback3-257-20175-31984
Ripley Under GroundPaperback3-257-20482-51983
Der Schneckenforscher: 11 GeschichtenPaperback3-257-20347-01983
Kleine Geschichten für Weiberfeinde: Eine weibliche Typenlehre in 17 BeispielenPaperback3-257-20349-71988
Kleine Mordgeschichten für TierfreundePaperback3-257-20483-31985
Ein Spiel für die LebendenPaperback3-257-20348-91981
Der talentierte Mr. RipleyHardcover3-257-06404-72002
Katzen: Drei Stories, drei Gedichte, ein Essay und sieben ZeichnungenHardcover3-257-05712-12005
Ediths Tagebuch (white cover with yellow box)Paperback3-257-20485-X1999
Venedig kann sehr kalt seinPaperback3-257-20484-11990
Carol: Roman einer ungewöhnlichen LiebePaperback3-257-22487-71992
Leute, die an Türen klopfenPaperback3-257-21349-21986
Tiefe WasserPaperback3-257-20342-X1978
Die gläserne Zelle (black text on yellow background)Paperback3-257-20343-81979
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Identifiers

Goodreads Author ID
7622
LibraryThing Author
highsmithpatricia
VIAF
66468662
Wikidata ID
Q270635

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Last Modified
2024-12-21