Beautiful Shadow and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more

Buy Used

Used - Good See details

Price: �2.79

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Search inside another edition of this book

Start reading Beautiful Shadow on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith [Paperback]

Andrew Wilson (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

	Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Kindle Edition	�7.02	--	--
Hardcover	--	--	--
Show # more hardcovers
Show fewer hardcovers
Paperback	�7.80	--	--
Paperback, 3 May 2004	--	--	--
Show # more paperbacks
Show fewer paperbacks

Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details.

› See more product promotions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Strangers On A Train by Patricia Highsmith
3.9 out of 5 stars (12)

�5.76
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
4.6 out of 5 stars (49)

�5.76
Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith
4.8 out of 5 stars (5)

�12.99
The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)

�6.07
Carol by Patricia Highsmith
4.5 out of 5 stars (17)

�6.07
The Cry Of The Owl by Patricia Highsmith
4.0 out of 5 stars (6)

�6.39

Product details

Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (3 May 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0747568553
ISBN-13: 978-0747568551
Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 3.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 407,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Andrew Wilson Page

Product Description

Review

'A fascinating, beautifully balanced and meticulously researched biography, bringing us as close to understanding Highsmith as we are ever likely to get' Sunday Telegraph 'Wilson has delved with extraordinary diligence, and everything he has unearthed is remarkable' Mail on Sunday 'Excellent and outstandingly readable ... Brilliant and compelling' Daily Mail 'An exemplary biography of a tortured, difficult and outstandingly gifted human being' Sunday Times

Mail on Sunday

‘Wilson has delved with extraordinary diligence, and everything he has unearthed is remarkable’

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

andrew wilson(2)

biography(2)

patricia highsmith(1)

Agree with these tags?

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Strangers On A Train by Patricia Highsmith Paperback
3.9 out of 5 stars (12)

�5.76

The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar Hardcover

�15.17

Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith Paperback
4.8 out of 5 stars (5)

�12.99

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Paperback
4.6 out of 5 stars (49)

�5.76

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remembering Pat, 9 Sep 2003

Vivien De Bernardi (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith (Hardcover)

When the young journalist, Andrew Wilson, came to interview me for his book about Patricia Highsmith, I couldn't imagine how he would ever be able to capture the emotional volatility, the piercing intellectual focus, and the utter simplicity, almost transparency, of her powerful and often disturbing presence. Amazingly, Wilson has carried off this herculean task and given us a Highsmith almost as brilliantly complex and perplexingly ingenuous as the woman herself. Surely the next best thing to having actually known her is to read this superb biography.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last!, 5 Jan 2004

R. P. Sedgwick "Grim Rob" (UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith (Hardcover)

As a long-time fan of Patricia Highsmith, who I have been reading since I was a teenager, I was looking forward to reading this book to find out about the author, of whom I knew very little other than the basic details of her life.

I wasn't disappointed. Beautiful Shadow interweaves the life of Highsmith and her books almost as one, and demonstrates how the two are so closely interlinked.

It's hard to believe from her books that Highsmith was most contended of individuals, and this proves to be the case.

Her story, which Wilson (although he never met her) has put together with the help of her journals and interviews with friends and contacts, is a masterful account of a tragic and tortured individual, who led a lonely life interrupted really only by the joy she gained from writing and painting.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional talent!!!, 22 Aug 2003

Sis Ofeel (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith (Hardcover)

Andrew Wilson is a wordsmith extraordinaire. His natural and unique talent for captivating the reader with quick paced and incisive narrative together with what seemed to be a genuine interest and understanding of Patricia Highsmith made this outstanding biography a gripping read and a real page turner from start to finish. For anyone who enjoys top notch writing as much as a compelling story - this is the book for you.
Definitely my top pick for 2003. Wilson is going to be a huge talent in the literary world - move over Martin Amis and co - Wilson is coming!
An excellent and truly exhilirating read....!!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Would you like to see more reviews about this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews 4.4 out of 5 stars

Were these reviews helpful? Let us know

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A good biography
I would echo the positive thoughts of other reviewers of this biography. I found it sensitive, compelling and eminently readable. Read more

Published on 26 Nov 2009 by Robert S. Fanshaw

5.0 out of 5 stars the talented mr. wilson
This is a wonderful book, a real must-have for all Highsmith fans. Thoroughly researched, based on Highsmith personnal diaries and cahiers, this is a literary biography as they... Read more

Published on 19 April 2009 by bagoas

5.0 out of 5 stars good book
well-i disagree wholeheartedly with the person who slated andrew wilson(and no,i'm not related!)-i thought this book covered miss highsmiths life in depth and in an interesting... Read more

Published on 20 Mar 2009 by snailtank

4.0 out of 5 stars stuart pe-win
I am not a big fan of literary biographies but I found this to be very readable and insightful. A "must by" for fans of her work.

Published on 22 Oct 2006 by Laclos

4.0 out of 5 stars Weird, Unkind, and Dissolute
"She was a weird, unkind, dissolute person." This is how her goddaughter remembers Patricia Highsmith, and after reading Andrew Wilson's biography, I think so, too. Read more

Published on 6 Jan 2004 by takingadayoff

5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful shadow
As a long-term fan of Patricia Highsmith's dark prose I was delighted to read Andrew Wilson's accomplished biography. Read more

Published on 15 July 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars The wait is over
This is probably the most insightful, compulsively readable, scholarly biography I’ve ever read. Read more

Published on 14 July 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad!
Not a bad biography, actually quite captivating! Not worthy of five stars, with a few grammar errors (though not many), and not the best writing I've ever read; but not below... Read more

Published on 11 July 2003 by Kenneth Hand

5.0 out of 5 stars Biography of the year - from Kate Crowndale
I've been waiting for this book for years and it's everything I wanted - and more. Much more. Highsmith was a highly secretive, enigmatic woman who never revealed herself while... Read more

Published on 30 Jun 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last
About the book: It’s a warts-and-all, cradle-to
grave portrayal of Pat Highsmith and I found it gripping from
start to finish. Read more

Published on 17 Jun 2003

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
biography forum want to move away from the celebrity auto/biography- ideas please	280	8 hours ago
biography forum If you like biographies about ordinary people...	111	5 days ago
biography forum Funny working travel books	3	6 days ago
biography forum African writers for nine year old daughter	14	6 days ago
biography forum Are there any people out there writing biographies of obscure people?	63	7 days ago
biography forum holocaust biographies	5	7 days ago
biography forum Auto/Biogs dealing with mental illness or madness in old money	39	8 days ago
biography forum Halifax during the depression	9	19 days ago