In this eerily up-to-date collection, Highsmith's incisive prose chronicles a world gone slightly mad, its catastrophes precipitated by human folly and excess. From the White House under siege by the homeless to a 190-year-old woman perpetually near death and dimly glowing, each tale unfolds the illogical extremes of humanity in the late twentieth century. Highsmith transmogrifies the face of daily existence to lay bare its manifold dark motives. These stories leave us haunted with "afterimages that will tremble--but stay--in our minds" (The New Yorker).
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 Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
‘An incredible talent ... You could swear she’s writing fact wrapped up in very sly fiction’ -- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Dark and savage humour ... precise and hard-edged prose’ -- Newsday
‘Highsmith is a novelist whose books one can re-read many times. There are few of whom one can say that’ -- Graham Greene
‘These stories leave us haunted with afterimages that will tremble - but stay in our minds’ -- The New Yorker --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
‘Dark and savage humour ... precise and hard-edged prose’ -- Newsday
‘Highsmith is a novelist whose books one can re-read many times. There are few of whom one can say that’ -- Graham Greene
‘These stories leave us haunted with afterimages that will tremble - but stay in our minds’ -- The New Yorker --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
About the Author
Patricia Highsmith was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1921. Her first novel, Strangers On A Train, was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. The Talented Mr Ripley, published in 1955, was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Scroll by the Mystery Writers of America and introduced the fascinating anti-hero Tom Ripley, who was to appear in many of her later crime novels. Patricia Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland, in February 1995. Her last novel, Small g: A Summer Idyll, was published posthumously just over a month later.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
On the outskirts of the small town of G- in eastern Austria lies a mysterious cemetery hardly an acre in size, filled with the remains of paupers for the most part, their places marked by nothing at all, or at best by tombstone fragments now all in the wrong spots. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
On the outskirts of the small town of G- in eastern Austria lies a mysterious cemetery hardly an acre in size, filled with the remains of paupers for the most part, their places marked by nothing at all, or at best by tombstone fragments now all in the wrong spots. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Eileen Shaw
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
In this small but somehow weighty book, Highsmith gives us ten controlled and clever stories which unsettle and unnerve the reader as much as they entertain. Highsmith is a past master at the seemingly banal setting, turning one's preconceptions into stark unease.
Sometimes, however, she forgets all subtlety and at times sinks into the actually banal, as here with her tale of Rent-A-Womb Versus the Mighty Right. However, at her best in far more of these stories than not, she is frequently unreservedly brilliant. I was captivated by Moby Dick II; or The Missile Whale, and by the cockroach infested luxury tower-block in Trouble at the Jade Towers. Highsmith is an acquired taste, but one which, once acquired, is difficult to satisfy. You just want to read more and more.
Sometimes, however, she forgets all subtlety and at times sinks into the actually banal, as here with her tale of Rent-A-Womb Versus the Mighty Right. However, at her best in far more of these stories than not, she is frequently unreservedly brilliant. I was captivated by Moby Dick II; or The Missile Whale, and by the cockroach infested luxury tower-block in Trouble at the Jade Towers. Highsmith is an acquired taste, but one which, once acquired, is difficult to satisfy. You just want to read more and more.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars
5 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Neither Here, nor There, but not bad
23 Jan 2009
By lin
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
My only exposure to Highsmith prior to reading this book is Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, which I loved. But somehow I can't believe the same person wrote them, as these stories hardly leave an impression me like Strangers on a Train did. The style reminds me of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller--a sort of mad-hatter of absurdities--which held me initially with a few painful chuckles, but it got old quickly if the story was too long.
Overall, I was not impressed by this particular work, but I am intrigued enough by what I've read to see her talent used in a different direction.
Overall, I was not impressed by this particular work, but I am intrigued enough by what I've read to see her talent used in a different direction.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Stories that are not so much scary as just icky
22 July 2009
By Dave Deubler
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Mystery and suspense writer Patricia Highsmith offers tales of Gothic horror in the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft in a thoroughly modern (and at times, almost futuristic) setting. Most of these stories struck this reviewer as more unpleasant than truly horrifying, and more often than not, the bad guys only got what was coming to them, so no regrets. And as mysteries, these stories were not overly clever, and seemed to go on far too long for the amount of plot. If this was done with the hope of building suspense, it largely failed. Meanwhile, the topics of nuclear waste, plagues of insects, and the struggle for women's rights each figure prominently in more than one story, making this collection seem needlessly repetitive - a little more variety in subject matter probably would have helped. This reviewer's favorite tale was "Sweet Freedom! And a Picnic on the White House Lawn" which at least had a pleasant subplot. Also, "Sixtus VII: Pope of the Red Slipper" was pretty good and at least well-intentioned. The others fall short of being genuinely frightening without being funny, or clever, or presenting any positive message. The author certainly delivers on what the title promises, but this reviewer wonders "to what point?"
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tales to give you nightmares
26 Mar 2000
By A. C. Seligman
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This book was classed as Mystery & Suspense, but presumably just because "that's what Patricia Highsmith writes." I'd class it as fantasy. These stories describe completely recognizable worlds, but "gone slightly mad" as one review accurately puts it. Some are enormously disturbing - I tried not to fall asleep in the middle of one because I feared the nightmares it would kindle!
That said, it's far from my favorite Highsmith. The stories just don't grip like most of her work - I couldn't stay awake when I tried. Peculiarly, many of them seem both too short, i.e. sketchy, and too long, i.e.moral/story could have been delivered much more quickly.
Perhaps mostly a good book for Highsmith completists; it's always interesting to read a favorite author's forays into a different genre.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
