Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950's

By: Marijane Meaker

Narrated by: Rosemary Benson

Patricia Highsmith, author of classics such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train, was a lesbian and a writer who defied simple categorization. Gore Vidal called her: "One of our greatest modernist writers." And The Cleveland Plain Dealer rightly commented: "Patricia Highsmith is often called a mystery or crime writer, which is a bit like calling Picasso a draftsman."

Meaker and Highsmith met in New York City, became lovers, and embarked on a romance amidst the bohemian set of Greenwich Village and the literary crowd of Fire Island. Written with wit and brassy candor, this is a revealing look at a controversial icon of popular American fiction.

Marijane Meaker is the author of more than 40 books and recipient of many awards; writing under the pen-name Vin Packer, she wrote the lesbian paperback best-seller Spring Fire (Cleis Press).

©2003 Cleis Press (P)2012 Cleis Press

Disturbing yet fascinating

A singular perspective on the life of a flawed but brilliant writer. I found the description of Lesbian life in the 50’s and 60’s to ring true. Those of us celebrating contemporary gay life might do well to reflect on the “old” proscriptions and secrecy of a guarded and dangerous life. These were the days of rampant butch, femme, and Kiki personae. We should be well advised in the days ahead.

A really interesting bit of history

It’s amazing that Patricia Highsmith was so productive when she had so many personal problems. Of course, some of them were created by the times.

Highsmith: A Romance Of The 1950's

Interesting w/ regard to both gay life in the Fifties & the paradox of Highsmith's anti-Semitism, You would have thought that as a writer & a member of a traditionally vilified minority that she would have had greater intellect & insight than to have demonized an entire population. I very much dislike the way that the Palestinians have been treated, but so do a lot of Jews. The problem is that the extremists of all 3 Abrahamic faiths are at their core religious fascists, eg theocrats. An Orthodox Jew is a fundamentalist Christian is a fundamentalist Muslim. Let's not forget that the Catholic Church allied itself w/ Mussolini & enabled many Nazis to escaped justice at Nuremberg for their crimes against humanity. And let's not forget that Israel was created bc so many countries, inc the US, did not welcome a post-WWII Jewish presence. Instead, they decided to displace innocent Arabs, & set the stage for a forever war in the Middle East. Anyway, I have politically digressed. At the end of the day, this book is a rather sad account of the disintegration of a relationship & of the mental disintegration of a talented female alcoholic, both of which are nothing new.

Fascinating book about a mysterious author.

This is Meaker’s account of her romance and then ongoing friendship with Patricia Highsmith, famous for “A Stranger on a Train” among other books. She wrote what was considered the first modern positive lesbian novel under the name Claire Morgan. Her books were very strange, and she herself, by the accounts in this book, could be extremely unpleasant harping on her anti-semite beliefs and with prejudices against people of color. If the time had been now, she would have harped probably on political correctness. Given that she wasn’t a very good friend to Meaker, the author did an excellent job of presenting a rank and unbiased look at Patricia Highsmith. Meaker wrote many lesbian pulp fiction novels under various names, one of the more famous being “Spring Fire” under the name Vin Packer.

An interesting look at 2 great writers

As a lover of the move Carol, I craved an intimate view of the author of the book it was based on. This story did not disappoint. The narrator truly satisfied audibly -- brought a love affair to life wonderfully.