Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires
The Life of Patricia Highsmith

I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been to write a biography about such a vile person. Patricia Highsmith had few redeeming qualities and is not someone I would care to meet during the light of day much less at the dead of night. At one point she kept snails on lettuce leaves in her handbag.......more

I was attraced to Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith having read and really enjoyed Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. I knew very little about Patricia Highsmith and was quite surprised to discover how unusual she was. Actually that's quite the understat......more

I have to say, this book is largely shit. I thought Andrew Wilson's biography of Highsmith was subpar, compared to Schenkar's absolutely stunning The Talented Miss Highsmith, but Wilson is leagues above Bradford. Why does this book exist? I have no idea. Bradford's chief contribution seems to be dou......more

A pioneer of gay and lesbian literature, a woman who enjoyed provoking others with her statements and lifestyle, a lover who couldn't hold a steady relationship with either men or women, the author whom Graham Greene named "poet of the apprehension", all of the above and so much more, Patricia Highs......more

Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford is a fascinating yet frustrating read. The cause of the frustration is more because of the subject than the biographer. Bradford does a tremendous amount of research and, probably most important, works back and fort......more