A Dog's Ransom (1972)Familiar to most readers via her Ripley books and Strangers on a Train, Patricia Highsmith specialized in creepy portraits of sociopaths as their paths crossed and destroyed the lives of ordinary folk. This less well known little gem starts out innocently enough with a wealthy Manhattan couple and their missing dog, but gets ugly fast as the dognapper proves to be obsessed with teaching them a lesson and the young cop investigating the case turns out to be equally obsessed with protecting the couple and imposing justice. With the kooks on both sides of the law this time there's an even more claustrophobic effect, as she shows just how frightening the people around us may be and how dangerous every day life is, but it's all offset by a dark sense of humor. It's not as good as her best, but it's worth seeking out. (Reviewed:) Grade: (B) Tweet Websites:-WIKIPEDIA: Patricia Highsmith -EXCERPT: ‘Avoid sadists!’: Patricia Highsmith on sex, women and writing Mr Ripley: An extract from the author’s fascinating diaries reveals her innermost thoughts and feelings (The Guardian, 11/12/21) -EXCERPTS: A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Woman: The author’s diaries and notebooks chart her early work and love life. (Patricia Highsmith, The New Yorker) -SHORT STORY: The World's Champion Ball-Bouncer by Patricia Highsmith – a brilliant story unseen for 73 years: In this previously uncollected short story by The Talented Mr Ripley author, a young girl struggles to adjust to life in New York (Patricia Highsmith, 9 Jan 2021, The Guardian) - -ESSAY: Illustrating Patricia Highsmith’s Literary Career: From Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer’s Graphic Novel (Grace Ellis and Hannah Temper, 4/25/22, LitHub) -ESSAY: Bed-hopping, martinis and self-loathing: inside Patricia Highsmith’s unpublished diaries: From her carefree 20s and countless affairs, to literary success and later-life bigotry and rancour, the author’s extraordinary diaries reveal a woman determined to chart her own course (Emma Brockes, 13 Nov 2021, The Guardian) -REVIEW ESSAY: Patricia Highsmith’s Two Severed Hands (R.T. Raichev, March 7, 2024, Something is going to Happen) -ESSAY: The Talented Mr. Ripley And The American In Fiction (DEREK NEAL, 4/03/22, 3Quarks) by Derek Neal -REVIEW ESSAY: The Mystery of Patricia Highsmith’s Diaries: What made her so interested in cold-blooded, apparently motiveless killers? (Benjamin Kunkel /November 8, 2021, New Republic) -ARCHIVES: Read the earliest reviews of The Talented Mr. Ripley, which turns 65 today (Book Marks, November 30, 2020) -ESSAY: Twisted brilliance: Patricia Highsmith at 100: Forbidden desires, strange obsessions and a singular talent for suspense (Carmen Maria Machado, 9 Jan 2021, The Guardian) -REVIEW ESSAY: PAULA HAWKINS ON PATRICIA HIGHSMITH'S STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, 70 YEARS LATER: The author of The Girl on the Train appreciates Highsmith's uniquely sickening vision of humanity. (PAULA HAWKINS, 1/20/21, Crime Reads) -ESSAY: A singular traveller: Patricia Highsmith at 100 (Alex Clark, 1/20/21, TLS) -ESSAY: PATRICIA HIGHSMITH AND THE WOMEN WHO INSPIRED RIPLEY: In 1950, Highsmith went to Positano with a glamorous, wealthy young Londoner. A year later, she traveled there again, with a new companion, at the tail end of a manic journey across Europe. (RICHARD BRADFORD, 1/19/21, Crime Reads) -ESSAY: Patricia Highsmith’s Confessions and Rebellions at Yaddo: Richard Bradford on Strange Times at the Legendary Writers’ Retreat (Richard Bradford, January 19, 2021, Lit Hub) -ESSAY: Peculiar world of a singular talent: Highsmith was a great writer, with a moral vision bracing enough to clarify the terrors of the twentieth century(Christopher Bray, Jan/Feb 2021, The Critic) -REVIEW: of Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford (Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian) -REVIEW: of Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires (Independent ie) -ESSAY: Patricia Highsmith at 100: the best film adaptations: Shape-shifting Tom Ripley, ill-met strangers on a train… cinema’s love affair with Highsmith’s thrillers was immediate, and shows no signs of cooling off (Guy Lodge, Sat 16 Jan 2021, The Guardian) -REVIEW ESSAY: Patricia Highsmith at 100: How the author’s chilling stories of murder have fascinated filmmakers for decades: Highsmith’s murderous con artist in The Talented Mr Ripley has become so well-known that he is often a point of reference for any real-life killers with a smattering of charm. As we enter the centenary of the writer’s birth, Geoffrey Macnab dissects the many film adaptations of her books (Geoffrey McNab, 1/01/21, Independent) -REVIEW ESSAY: THE CREEPIEST: John Malkovich as Tom Ripley (ANTHONY LANE, 2004-02-09, The New Yorker) - -REVIEW: of Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, 1941–1995 by Patricia Highsmith (Benjamin Kunkel, New Republic) -REVIEW: of Diaries (Natasha Cooper, TLS) -REVIEW: of Carol by Patricia Highsmith (Charles J. Rolo, The New York Times, May 18, 1952) -REVIEW: of Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford (Scott Bradfield, The Spectator) -REVIEW: of Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires (Bob Duffy, Washington Independent Review of Books) -REVIEW: of Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires (Brooke Allen, New Criterion) -REVIEW: of Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires (Daphne Wright, TLS) -REVIEW: Of Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks (Pat Padua, Spectrum Culture) FILM: - - -FILM REVIEW: Loving Highsmith (Christopher Reed, Hammer to Nail) -FILM REVIEW: Loving Highsmith (OLIVIA RUTIGLIANO, Crime Reads) -FILM REVIEW: Was Patricia Highsmith Actually a Hopeless Romantic?: The documentary ‘Loving Highsmith’ presents a new side of the enigmatic crime writer (Ella Feldman, September 7, 2022, Smithsonian) Book-related and General Links: -Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) - Mary Patricia (née Plangman, stepfather's name Highsmith); has also written as Claire Morgan (kirjasto) -ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA : "patricia highsmith" -ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA : Highsmith, Patricia -BOOK SITE : The Talented Mr. Ripley (Random House) -EXCERPT : from The Talented Mr. Ripley (Random House) -PROFILE : A dark view (Susan Adams, Forbes Magazine, 06.15.98) -The Knitting Circle: Literature : Patricia Highsmith -Patricia Highsmith (1921 - 1995) (Queer Theory) -Patricia Highsmith AllReaders Club -xrefer : Highsmith, Patricia -ESSAY : Poet of Apprehension (John Gray, New Statesman, June 19, 2000) -ESSAY : Dead writers: Movies spur Highsmith revival (JEFF BAKER, 08/05/01, THE OREGONIAN) -ESSAY : The Killer in Me Is the Killer in You : Everyone is a potential murderer in the malleable moral universe of Patricia Highsmith (John Freeman, City Pages) -BIBLIOGRAPHY : PATRICIA HIGHSMITH (Stop You're Killing Me) -ARCHIVES : "patricia highsmith" (NY Review of Books) -ARCHIVES : "patricia highsmith" (Find Articles) -REVIEW : of The Talented Mr. Ripley (Bob Wake, Culture Vulture) -REVIEW : of The Talented Mr. Ripley ( Robin Brenner, Rambles) -REVIEW : of The Talented Mr. Ripley (Michelle LeBlanc , Literal Mind) -REVIEW : of The Ripley novels (Ian Lace) -REVIEW : of Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith (Alice K. Turner, Washington Post) -REVIEW : of Selected Stories by Patricia Highsmith (Penelope Mesic , Book) -REVIEW : of Selected Stories by Patricia Highsmith (Fritz Lanham, Houston Chronicle) -BOOK LIST : "Death in Venice" is No. 1 gay novel #36 The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (HILLEL ITALIE, Salon) FILMS :
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