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The Talented Miss Highsmith

THE biography catching reviewers’ attention this month is Joan Schenkar’s The Talented Miss Highsmith.

Highsmith’s books have had an enduring appeal, but were brought to a greater audience through recent movies based on the Ripliad, five novels featuring the charming sociopath Tom Ripley.

In the Washington Post, Jonatham Lethem’s review of the bio. is not as laudatory as others have been. Instead, he encourages readers to turn to the novels themselves.

As Lethem says, “The antidote to literary biography is literature.”

The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith
Joan Schenkar
Retail Price: $40.00
Hardcover: 704 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press – (2009-12-08)
ISBN / EAN: 0312303750 / 9780312303754

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The following are the Highsmith titles that Lethem recommends.

The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game (Everyman’s Library)
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $27.50
Hardcover: 880 pages
Publisher: Everyman’s Library – (1999-10-12)
ISBN / EAN: 0375407928 / 9780375407925

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The Cry of the Owl
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $12.00
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press – (1994-01-18)
ISBN / EAN: 0871132907 / 9780871132901

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The Blunderer
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $11.95
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2001-11)
ISBN / EAN: 0393322440 / 9780393322446

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This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $13.95
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2002-10)
ISBN / EAN: 0393323676 / 9780393323672

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The Tremor of Forgery
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $12.00
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press – (1994-01-14)
ISBN / EAN: 0871132583 / 9780871132581

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Deep Water
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $13.95
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2003-07)
ISBN / EAN: 0393324559 / 9780393324556

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A Dog’s Ransom
Patricia Highsmith
Retail Price: $12.95
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2002-08-17)
ISBN / EAN: 0393323366 / 9780393323368

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under 2009 - Fall, Biography, Literature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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