The Talented Miss Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith wrote dozens of psychological thrillers over the course of her career (The Talented Mr. Ripley being the most famous), and her capacity for developing such disturbing characters has long intrigued critics and readers. In The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, Joan Schenkar digs into the late author’s history to paint a portrait of a secretive, brilliant, dishonest, and hopelessly cruel woman. Highsmith compulsively chronicled her life in journals and lists, and Schenkar used these journals (in conjunction with her skeptical, fact-checking eye) to construct the biography. Schenkar doesn’t follow the standard, chronological form of a biography, instead dividing the book into three sections that “crisscross and mirror each other, embodying the themes of doubling and alter egos in Highsmith’s work and life” (Publishers Weekly). While critics admit this structure can be confusing at first, they believe it makes The Talented Miss Highsmith an innovative, detailed, and compelling read.
“Schenkar’s writing is witty, sharp and light-handed, a considerable achievement given the immense detail of this biography.” – Jeanette Winterson, New York Times
“Especially fascinating are Schenkar’s extras, such as a reproduction of the list Highsmith made to rank and compare her lovers, and a list of the books on her shelves. The end result is a biography that captures the writer in all her sullen, sinister, ambivalent glory.” – Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly
“It is hard to imagine a more thoroughly fact-filled or energetic biography than ‘The Talented Miss Highsmith’ or one more determined to examine the deepest recesses of its complicated subject.” – Alexander Theroux, The Wall Street Journal
“Schenkar’s research is impeccable, and she makes excellent use of the voluminous Highsmith archives.” – Publishers Weekly
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