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Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith

By: Andrew Wilson
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 1582344116
ISBN-13: 9781582344119
Released: 28 Mar 2004
RRP: £10.15
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

stuart pe-win - By: Laclos, 22 Oct 2006
I am not a big fan of literary biographies but I found this to be very readable & insightful. A "must by" for fans of her work.
Weird, Unkind, and Dissolute - By: takingadayoff, 06 Jan 2004
"She was a weird, unkind, dissolute person." This is how her goddaughter remembers Patricia Highsmith, & after reading Andrew Wilson's biography, I think so, too. But there were alll those great books & stories. . .

In Beautiful Shadow (a reference to the name of Ripley's home in France, Belle Ombre), Wilson describes quite a lot of Highsmith's writing, so by the end of the book, you may have a long list of novels & stories to look for. He examines her influences, her relationships (romantic & otherwise), & her many quirks.

Highsmith was never very popular in the U.S., at least until the recent movie The Talented Mister Ripley, came out after her death. She was more successful in Europe, where fans even recognized her in the street. Perhaps this explains why she lived most of her adult life in Europe. She was never very comfortable anywhere, even in her own body, according to those who knew her, but she seemed less uncomfortable in Europe.

What sort of a mind comes up with the sort of strange, compelling stories that Highsmith did, with their amoral & still often sympathetic characters? Wilson goes a long way toward answering that question in this biography, but some questions remain unanswered, & maybe it's better that way.

At Last! - By: R. P. Sedgwick, 05 Jan 2004
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 & her books almost as one, & demonstrates how the two are so closely interlinked.

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

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

Remembering Pat - By: Vivien De Bernardi, 09 Sep 2003
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, & the utter simplicity, almost transparency, of her powerful & often disturbing presence. Amazingly, Wilson has carried off this herculean task & given us a Highsmith almost as brilliantly complex & perplexingly ingenuous as the woman herself. Surely the next best thing to having actuallly known her is to read this superb biography.
An exceptional talent!!! - By: Sis Ofeel, 22 Aug 2003
Andrew Wilson is a wordsmith extraordinaire. His natural & unique talent for captivating the reader with quick paced & incisive narrative together with what seemed to be a genuine interest & understanding of Patricia Highsmith made this outstanding biography a gripping read & 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 & co - Wilson is coming!
An excellent & truly exhilirating read....!!