Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s

by Marijane Meaker

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Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. Patricia Highsmith, author of classics such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Price of Salt, was a lesbian who defied categorization during the postwar period. Her dynamic, often difficult life coupled with her sinister crime stories and upbeat lesbian pulp fiction challenged popular stereotypes about homosexuality as well as women writers. To aspiring young novelist Marijane Meaker, however, Highsmith was more than a role model. During their two-year show more romance amidst the bohemian set of Greenwich Village and the literary crowd of the Hamptons, the pair navigated the underground lesbian bar scene, lunched with literary stars like Janet Flanner, shared intimacies, gossiped with abandon, and maintained a steady routine of writing and heavy drinking. Written with wit and brassy candor, this is a rare and revealing look at the life and loves of a controversial icon of popular American fiction. show less

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3 reviews
Not overly-exhaustive in detail, but still a highly satisfying read, especially if you're a Highsmith or a Meaker fan. (If you're not a fan of either, this book will probably fail to appeal on a general level.) I think the difficulty with memoirs such as these about relationships with a plethora of ebbs and flows is that, at the end of the day, it is difficult to look at the relationship coherently. Meaker does not suffer from this problem at all. Instead, she's able to create a lively and readable portrait of a relationship between two fascinating writers at an equally fascinating point in lesbian social history.
Libro molto bello che ho centellinato e assaporato in questi mesi.
La scrittrice Marijane Meaker racconta i due anni di relazione con Patricia Highsmith alla fine degli anni '50. Interessante lo sguardo sull'ambiente editoriale e intellettuale della New York di quegli anni, su quello gay e lesbico, e su alcune ossessioni e passioni della Highsmith (il bere, l'antisemitismo, e anche un certo razzismo verso le persone di colore). Alla fine del libro c'è la descrizione del loro ultimo incontro dopo molti anni in cui non si erano più viste.
Ho "ritagliato" qualche pagina dal libro qui: https://patriziamandanici.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/highsmith-una-storia-damore-d...
Erinnerungen an Patricia Highsmith

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74+ Works 4,223 Members
Marijane Meaker (born May 27, 1927) is an American novelist and short story writer in several genres using different pen names. Using her own observations of lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s, she wrote a series of nonfiction books as Ann Aldrich from 1955 to 1972. In 1972 she switched genres and pen names once more to begin writing for young show more adults, and became quite successful as M.E. Kerr, producing over 20 novels and winning multiple awards including the American Library Association's lifetime award for young-adult literature, the ALA Margaret Edwards Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Some Editions

Alicia, Juana (Illustrator)
Allié, Manfred (Übersetzer)
Idleman, Scott (Designer)
Quigg, Karen (Designer)

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detebe (23742)

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s
Original title
Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s
Original publication date
2003
People/Characters*
Patricia Highsmith; Marijane Meaker
Dedication
For Kit, there then and here now, with love.
First words
L's was on a little side street in Greenwich Village, a dark, cozy lesbian bar.
Canonical DDC/MDS
813.54
Canonical LCC
PS3558.I366
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Biography & Memoir, LGBTQ+
DDC/MDS
813.54Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-19991945-1999
LCC
PS3558 .I366Language and LiteratureAmerican literatureAmerican literatureIndividual authors1961-
BISAC

Statistics

Members
148
Popularity
220,576
Reviews
3
Rating
½ (3.62)
Languages
English, German, Italian
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
7
ASINs
3