Patricia Highsmith
By: Russell Harrison.
Series: Twayne's United States authors series (TUSAS), Volume 683
Publisher: Twayne Publishers Inc.
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 156
ISBN-13: 9780805745665
Subjects: Highsmith, Patricia, 1921-  -- Criticism and interpretation.; Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Detective and mystery stories, American -- History and criticism.; Psychological fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Existentialism in literature.; Crime in literature.
Description: In this, the first full-length critical study of Patricia Highsmith's literary achievements, Russell Harrison offers a thoughtful consideration of the most successful and representative of the writer's works.

In clear, accessible language Harrison argues that Highsmith's fiction demonstrates elements of existentialism as linked to Sartre and Camus - and, earlier, to Dostoyevsky and Gide - and reflects sociopolitical concerns, from the Cold War of the 1940s and 1950s through the politicization of the 1960s and 1970s to the gay and lesbian issues of the 1980s and 1990s. Discussed as well are Highsmith's depictions of interpersonal relationships, including families and extended families, and her emphasis on objects as a central aspect of her characters' lives.

Separate chapters provide instructive biographical background, drawing on heretofore unpublished material made available by friends of Highsmith, and take up by turns the works of the 1950s and beyond, the political dimensions of the novels, the gay and lesbian works, and the short stories.

An excellent supplement for courses in American fiction, mystery novels, lesbian/gay fiction, and the short story, Patricia Highsmith is sure to be welcomed by high school and college students and by scholars and general readers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-153) and index.
Table of contents: label: Chapter 1
title: Introduction; label: Chapter 2
title: Highsmith in the 1950s; label: Chapter 3
title: Hell Is Other People; label: Chapter 4
title: Politics in the Novels; label: Chapter 5
title: The Gay and Lesbian Novels; label: Chapter 6
title: The Short Stories