Patricia Highsmith

Her Diaries and Notebooks, 1941–1995

By: Patricia Highsmith, Anna von Planta - editor

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt

Available for the centenary of her birth, Patricia Highsmith’s diaries “offer the most complete picture ever published” of the canonical author (New York Times).

Relegated during her lifetime to the pulpy genre of mystery, Patricia Highsmith has emerged since her death in 1995 as one of “our greatest modernist writers” (Gore Vidal). Presented for the first time, this one-volume assemblage of her diaries and notebooks—posthumously discovered behind Highsmith’s linens and culled from more than 8,000 pages by her devoted editor, Anna von Planta—traces the mesmerizing double-life of an artist who “[worked] like mad to be something”.

Beginning in 1941 during her junior year at Barnard, the diaries exhibit the intoxicating “atmosphere of nameless dread” (Boston Globe) that permeates classics such as Strangers on a Train and the Ripley series. In her skewering of McCarthy-era America, her prickly disparagement of contemporary art, her fixation on love and writing, and ever-percolating prejudices, the famously secretive Highsmith reveals the roots of her psychological angst and acuity. In one of the most thoroughly enjoyable literary diaries to publish in generations, at last we see how Patricia Highsmith became Patricia Highsmith.

©2021 Patricia Highsmith (P)2021 Recorded Books

The raw, unfiltered, and unapologetic thoughts of great mind and ground-breaking author.

You might find your jaw dropping at quite a bit of the entries herein but when you do, maybe ask yourself this. Is it possible that Patricia Highsmith is simply being more candid with her views than most intellectuals would risk letting the world discover? Is she writing things many people think, more or less, in moments of sarcasm, fear, or other emotional states that most never dare let themselves say out loud?

I think it is important to remember that these are the private and once-hidden diaries of a writer who, at one point, planned to have them burned upon her death. Shortly before her end, the editor of this book reveals however that Highsmith donated the pages to the preservationists, even so, not necessarily with the intent of having them published. These diaries, were the personal and private tools of an artist. They are not written in narrative or story-driven format though they serve to add rich psychological context to the author’s life story.

Did she save these pages from the flames out of a covert narcissism that you may begin to suspect of her on one page, just before she surprises you with demonstrations of deep empathy and humanity on the next? I believe her decision was more courageous than anything else, as who would ever want to possibly open up a can of worms on their legacy in the way unfiltered thoughts and unedited works can? I do imagine that when faced with this decision, it was easier for her to simply hand over all 8000 pages of these writings vs. burning them all or attempting to edit them down.

For those searching for a faster and fuller understanding of Highsmith’s life and accomplishments, I would recommend best-selling biographies such as the artfully written, The Talented Miss Highsmith (which sources these diaries) by Joan Schenkar and the feature documentary, Loving Patricia Highsmith.

Reading these journals though, in concert with the historical biographies and Highsmith’s literary works, gives readers, fans, and historians the ultimate insight as to who Highsmith truly was though the internal voice of her struggles, joys, and inspirations.

These diary pages can further serve to shed light on and provide a greater context to some of the more controversial statements she made, later in life, as countless pages act as historic evidence indicating that Highsmith held very socially progressive and forward views, the vast majority of her life. At about 1970 however, we see how, almost overnight, several deaths and a recent divorce-like heartbreak suddenly spark an onset of graphic nightmares, a whole new level of morbid thinking, and the onset of a remarkable shift in her personality.

I believe that all artists can learn from Highsmith’s philosophical and literary observations, self-proclaimed life-mistakes, and where the sum total of her mind’s dialogue took her by the end of her life.

On one level, I take from these pages, cautionary tales for creatives as it is so often conflict, the chasing of newness, seeking muses, and dark ponderings that artists source, while at a massive, personal cost. On the other, I see a first-person story of triumph, from a successful author who dared touch on subject matters, love, and relationships in ways that were decades before her time.

Regardless, in reading these tomes, you will be entering a fascinating, often morbid, and very existential mind.

Take your time with this one, you may need too!

40 hours of neurotic blather

I tried to listen on multiple occasions and under different circumstances. No matter. One must listen to the author refer to herself ad nauseam, in the third person, whilst bemoaning the decrepitude of society and petty contrivances. OMG just make it stop! Deleting this file, as one shouldn't waste perfectly good digital capacity on empty platitudes.