Patricia Highsmith

"A great American writer...Highsmith's writing is wicked...it puts a spell on you." —Entertainment Weekly

Patricia Highsmith's story of romantic obsession may be one of the most important, but still largely unrecognized, novels of the twentieth century. First published in 1952 and touted as "the novel of a love that society forbids," the book soon became a cult classic.

Based on a true story plucked from Highsmith's

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Patricia Highsmith reflexiona sobre el arte de escribir, cuenta cómo abordó algunas de sus intrigas más conocidas. "El presente libro no es un manual de instrucciones. Es imposible explicar cómo se escribe un buen libro, es decir, un libro que sea ameno. Pero esto es lo que hace que la profesión de escritor sea animada y apasionante: la constante posibilidad de fracasar. Así pues hablaré de mis fracasos tanto como de mis éxitos, porque puede...

"Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno are passengers on the same train. Haines is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno a mysterious smooth-talker with a sadistic proposal: he'll murder Haines's wife if Haines will murder Bruno's father. As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy finds himself trapped in a perilous world, where, under the right circumstances, ordinary people are capable of extraordinary crimes"--Provided by publisher....

"In ten eerily up-to-date stories, Highsmith covers environmental degradation, apocalyptic disaster, political chaos, and religious conservatism, and leaves us haunted with 'afterimages that will tremble--but stay--in our minds' (The New Yorker)"--Page 4 of cover.

"Deep Water" is set in the small town of Little Wesley. Vic and Melinda's loveless marriage is held together only by Melinda's extramarital affairs. Eventually, Vic tries to win her back by asserting himself through a tall tale of murder--one that soon comes true.

"In a grubby Athens hotel, Rydal Keener is bored and killing time with petty scams. But when he runs into another American, Chester MacFarland, dragging a man's body down the hotel hall, Rydan impulsively agrees to help, perhaps because Chester looks like his father. Then Rydal meets Collete, Chester's younger wife, and captivated, becomes entangled in their sordid lives, as the drama marches to a shocking climax at the ruins of the labyrinth at Knossos"--Amazon.com....

Ray Garrett, a wealthy young American living in Europe, is grieving over the death of his wife Peggy. Ray is at a loss for why she would take her own life, but Peggy's father Ed Coleman, a painter, has no such uncertainty-he blames Ray completely. Late one night in Rome, Coleman shoots Ray at point-blank range. He thinks he's had his revenge, but Ray survives and follows Coleman and his wealthy girlfriend to Venice. In Venice, it happens again: Coleman...

"Based on a true story plucked from Highsmith's own life, Carol tells the riveting drama of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose routine is forever shattered by a gorgeous epiphany--the appearance of Carol Aird, a customer who comes in to buy her daughter a Christmas toy. Therese begins to gravitate toward the alluring suburban housewife, who is trapped in a marriage as stultifying as Therese's job. They fall...

This novel was first published in 1952 under the pseudonym Clare Morgan. The Price of Salt tells the riveting story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce. They fall in love and set out across the United States, pursued by a private investigator who eventually blackmails Carol into a choice between...

The remarkable renaissance of Patricia Highsmith continues with the publication of Patricia Highsmith: Selected Novels and Short Stories, featuring two groundbreaking novels as well as a trove of penetrating short stories. With a critical introduction by Joan Schenkar, situating Highsmith's classic works within her own tumultuous life, this book provides a useful guide to some of her most dazzlingly seductive writing. Strangers on a Train, transformed...