Customer Reviews

Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950's

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Meaker met Highsmith in the '50's. Both were successful novelists - Highsmith had written the first of the Ripley novels, her Strangers on the Train had been filmed by Hitchcock, while Meaker was just breaking into hardcover. They fell in love. Meaker broke off with her lover to move to rural Pennsylvania (from New York City!) with Highsmith. They had two years together, before Meaker's jealousy (early on a friend had quoted Shakespeare to her as a warning: 'Trifles light as air / Are to the Jealous confirmations strong / As proofs of holy writ.") and Highsmith's alcoholism destroyed their relationship. In fact, despite a habit of remaining friends with old lovers, Meaker did not have contact with Highsmith for twenty-seven years after their breakup.

Highsmith seems to have been a terribly insecure woman; she was restless, always wanting to be where she was not, doing her best writing in (and eventually moving permanently to) Europe. The casual racism and anti-Semitism she voiced when Meaker first knew her, while perhaps not so uncommon in the 50's, had grown into a vicious hatred of Jews by the time they reconnected nearly three decades later. She seems to have had a very difficult relationship with her mother, whom she actually stopped speaking to later in life.

Meaker draws a compelling portrait of two writers, and how they tried, without ultimate success, to make a home and lives together. At one point, towards the end, Highsmith accuses Meaker of having imagined who she (H) was and being disappointed that she was someone else. Meaker admits the truth of this. While she has drawn Highsmith warts and all, she doesn't airbrush her own portrait, but gives us an honest account an affair that was likely doomed from the start.

It is also an interesting portrait of urban gay/lesbian life in the 50's, when "you could still be fired for being a homosexual, or lose your lease, your straight friends, your family -- even in a big city like Manhattan, you were safer in the closet." Even Highsmith and Meaker, whose families knew, if they did not accept, their lesbianism, and both of whom had published books about lesbians (Highsmith's The Price of Salt actually had the nerve to have a happy ending), felt guarded, out in the world.

I've heard such mixed things about Patricia Highsmith over the years. The comments about her writing have been very positive, but most of the statements about her personality have been negative. Here we get a fair and balanced portrait of a fascinating individual. But more than that, Meaker's book gives us an intriguing perspective on New York in an earlier era when social mores may have been somewhat different but timeless human dramas played out with the same abandon as today. This memoir is written in incisive, witty, and honest prose. As I neared the final pages I found myself reading slower and slower because I didn't want the book to end.

Although this is a bittersweet love story, it is told with a sense of wit and high grade storytelling. Of course there are the serious aspects of the intensely passionate relationship between Meaker and Highsmith. Meaker paints a vivid picture of a specific society in New York (and of city mice living in rural Pennsylvania) in the 1950's. Meaker is a talented raconteur and wonderful writer! I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Patricia Highsmith, life in the 1950's (lesbian or otherwise), Marijane Meaker, a talented author in her own right, or a decent read. I also recommend Shockproof Sydney Skate to see how Meaker incorporated her nonfiction life into a fictional book. I read these books around the same time and I felt like I was back in time.

I liked the historic setting for this book, telling the reader what gay life was like in the late 1950's. Meakers story about her love affair with famed author Highsmith was revealing. Though not sure I would want my relationship written about in a book by an ex, it is still well done. This was a book of non fiction that read like fiction with a history lesson on top of it. It is a wonderful multi dimensional read that should be in everyones library. This is the type of book you will not lend out in fear of not getting it returned.

This is one of this year's BEST reads. Not only do you get a revealing look at what makes the writer of Ripley tick, you also have a wonderful history of gay life in the 1950's ... plus the trials of two writers living together. Meaker is funny, honest, and truly moving in her observations then and now about the writer and the woman, Patricia Highsmith. It made me want to read a lot more of Meaker's works as well as rereading Highsmith ...

I like Meaker's spare style and terse chapters which remind me of a Highsmith novel or most fifties novels in general. It didn't have as much detail about Highsmith as I'd like and I don't really see anyone who's not familiar with Highsmith or Meaker taking interest in the story.

To be honest even though I bought this book I'd only reccommend it to Marijane Meaker fans. As for the strictly Highsmith fans you'd be much better off with one of her novels or Andrew Wilson's excellent biography "Beautiful Shadow: A Life Of Patricia Highsmith" which reads as addictively as one of her own novels.

This is one of this year's BEST reads. Not only do you get a revealing look at what makes the writer of Ripley tick, you also have a wonderful history of gay life in the 1950's ... plus the trials of two writers living together. Meaker is funny, honest, and truly moving in her observations then and now about the writer and the woman, Patricia Highsmith. It made me want to read a lot more of Meaker's works as well as rereading Highsmith ...

This was the first book I read on my new Kindle, and I found it fascinating. I'm a big Patricia Highsmith fan, and this memoir gave me a better sense of who the author was in her deepest self than did the latest biography. I also like the clarity, simplicity and humor in Marijane Meaker's writing, and will be looking for more of her books.

Great read! Sad, funny, insightful...

Joan Hall Hovey author of Chill Waters

Fans of Patricia Highsmith - and anyone who reads her becomes one - will want to read this small memoir of a 1959-61 romance with the author, a well-published novelist herself with a style not unlike that of her former flame. The writing evokes the closeted world of the '50s and early '60s when lesbians had to hide, even in NYC. Highsmith doesn't come off too well, though. A virulent anti-Semite, according to the author, the psychological novelist was a lush who liked to drink for breakfast, chainsmoke her way through the day and generally avoid fans and almost anyone else. You don't quite come away with a good sense of how Highsmith produced her art, despite these quirks. But that's not the point. This is a love story, albeit one inevitably gone awry. You'll want to pick up an unread Patricia Highsmith novel when you're done.

This was a great read and covered many interests for me; the lifesrtle of two writers, the memoir of two famous writers, a lesbian love story, the aging of two women, and a great nostalgic trip. If these subjects appeal to a reader, then this book will be a feast of a read. The writing style was simple and unflowered, which I appreciated, and I loved the detailes MJ Meaker gives on Highsmith. It seemed very honest. I totally recommend this book to lesbians, writers, Highsmith fans, and any curious in-betweens.