Patricia Highsmith

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PH , writing from the mid-twentieth century, first in the USA and then in Europe and England, produced short stories and novels, the majority of them variously classifiable as thrillers or suspense fiction, a label which she disliked. Readers, however, have seen her that way. In 1988 most of her books were available in two competing paperback editions, by Heinemann and Penguin . Irony of situation of every kind is her speciality. Among a range of varied and ingenious plots, her favourite theme, as she herself recognised, is a relationship between two men. Her books were translated into many languages and adapted for films by directors in Britain, America, and Europe. European directors who have filmed adaptations of her works include Wim Wenders , René Clément , and Claude Miller .
Waterstone’s Guide to Books. Waterstone and Company.
749-50
Highsmith, Patricia. Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. St Martin’s Press.
138-9
Contemporary Authors. Gale Research.
147
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Research.
102: 219

Milestones

19 January 1921

PH was born at Fort Worth, Texas (despite her mother's attempt to abort the foetus at four months, by drinking turpentine).
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series. Gale Research.
62
žiŽek, Slavoj. “Not a desire to have him, but to be like him”. London Review of Books, pp. 13-14.
13

15 March 1950

PH made her name in one step with her first book, Strangers on a Train, published as a Harper Novel of Suspense.
Wilson, Andrew Norman. Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith. Bloomsbury.
168
OCLC WorldCat. http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.
Highsmith, Patricia. Carol. Bloomsbury.
259, 261

4 February 1995

PH died of leukemia after only a few days in hospital at Locarno in Switzerland.
Wilson, Andrew Norman. Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith. Bloomsbury.
459
Patricia Highsmith. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/highsm.htm.
Contemporary Authors. Gale Research.
147
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Research.
102: 166

By 25 February 1995

PH 's last novel, Small g: a summer idyll, was published posthumously (shortly after she died) with Bloomsbury .
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Research.
102: 217
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series. Gale Research.
62

Biography

Birth and Influences

19 January 1921

PH was born at Fort Worth, Texas (despite her mother's attempt to abort the foetus at four months, by drinking turpentine).
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series. Gale Research.
62
žiŽek, Slavoj. “Not a desire to have him, but to be like him”. London Review of Books, pp. 13-14.
13

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