Patricia Highsmith, one of the great writers of 20th Century American fiction, had a life as darkly compelling as that of her favorite "hero-criminal", talented Tom Ripley. In this revolution ary biography, Joan Schenkar paints a riveting portrait — from Highsmith’s birth in Texas to Hitchcock's filming of her first novel, Strangers On a Train, to her long, strange, self-exile in Europe. We see her as a secret writer for the comics, a brilliant creator of disturbing fictions, and erotic predator with dozens of women (and a few good men) on her love list. The Talented Miss Highsmith is the first literary biography with access to Highsmith's whole story: her closest friends, her oeuvre, her archives. It's a compulsive page-turner unlike any other, a book worthy of Highsmith herself.
Chapter 1. How to Begin: Part 1
Chapter 2. How to Begin: Part 2
Chapter 3. A Simple Act of Forgery: Part 1
Chapter 4. A Simple Act of Forgery: Part 2
Chapter 15. Social Studies: Part 1
Chapter 16. Social Studies: Part 2
Chapter 26. Les Girls: Part 10
Chapter 27. Les Girls: Part 11
Chapter 28. Les Girls: Part 12
Chapter 29. Les Girls: Part 13
Chapter 30. Les Girls: Part 14
Chapter 31. The Real Romance of Objects: Part 1
Chapter 32. The Real Romance of Objects: Part 2
Chapter 33. The Real Romance of Objects: Part 3
Chapter 34. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 1
Chapter 35. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 2
Chapter 36. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 3
Chapter 37. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 4
Chapter 38. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 5
Chapter 39. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 6
Chapter 40. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 7
Chapter 41. The Cake that was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 8
Appendix 2: Patricia Highsmith’s New York
Appendix 3: Charts, Maps, Diagrams, and Plans