Bibliograph

Devils, lusts and strange desires, the life of Patricia Highsmith, Richard Bradford

Type

Label

Devils, lusts and strange desires, the life of Patricia Highsmith, Richard Bradford

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical resources (pages 245-246) and index

resource.biographical

individual biography

Illustrations

illustrationsplates

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Devils, lusts and strange desires

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1155073688

Responsibility statement

Richard Bradford

Sub title

the life of Patricia Highsmith

Summary

"Made famous by the great success of her psychological thrillers, The Talented Mr Ripley and Strangers on a Train, Patricia Highsmith is lauded as one of the most influential and celebrated modern writers. However, there has never been a clear picture of the woman behind the books. The relationship between Highsmith's lesbianism, her fraught personality - by parts self-destructive and malicious - and her fiction, has been largely avoided by biographers. She was openly homosexual and wrote the seminal lesbian love story, Carol. In modern times, she would be venerated as a radical exponent of the LGBT community. However, her status as an LGBT icon is undermined by the fact that she was excessively cruel and exploitative of her friends and lovers. In this new biography, Richard Bradford brings his sharp, incisive style to one of the great and most controversial writers of the twentieth century. He considers Highsmith's bestsellers in the context of her troubled personal life; her alcoholism, licentious sex life, racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny and abundant self-loathing."--Amazon

Table Of Contents

The beginning -- Barnard -- Boarding the train -- Yaddo and consequences -- Carol -- Ellen -- Ripley -- Marijane -- 'So much in love' -- Eccentricity -- France -- Animals and us -- 'It's good you never had children' -- Her last loves -- 'I'm sick of Jews!' -- Those who walk away

Classification