Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith (1921–1995) was an American novelist and short-story writer known for psychological thrillers, especially the novels featuring Tom Ripley.

Tom Ripley: A charming, amoral American con artist who is the central character of five Patricia Highsmith novels. Highsmith’s most famous character anchors her best-known sequence of psychological crime novels.
Strangers on a Train: Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 novel about two men whose chance meeting leads to a proposal for exchanging murders. The novel’s premise illustrates how her stories turn social encounters into traps.
Claire Morgan: The pseudonym under which Patricia Highsmith published The Price of Salt in 1952. Highsmith used this name to publish a lesbian love story without attaching it to her crime-fiction persona.
Fort Worth: A city in north-central Texas where Patricia Highsmith was born in 1921. Highsmith’s Texas birthplace begins the biography behind her later expatriate life.
Amoralism: The rejection or absence of moral principles as guides to conduct or judgment. Highsmith’s fiction often withholds clear moral correction while following characters who commit serious crimes.
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel about Tom Ripley, who assumes another man’s identity after killing him. This novel introduced Ripley and established the character’s blend of murder, impersonation, and social ambition.
Strangers on a Train (film): Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, with a screenplay by Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormonde. Hitchcock’s adaptation brought Highsmith’s first novel to a broad international audience.
Alfred Hitchcock: An English film director known for suspense films, including the 1951 adaptation of Strangers on a Train. His adaptation made one of Highsmith’s early novels a prominent film thriller.
Barnard College: A private women’s liberal arts college in New York City, affiliated with Columbia University. Highsmith studied English at Barnard, where she graduated in 1942.
Identity theft: The fraudulent use of another person’s identifying information, usually for deception or material gain. Ripley’s impersonations turn stolen identity into a means of social mobility and survival.

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