Small G: A Summer Idyll - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140252355 ISBN 13: 9780140252354

Publisher: Penguin, 1996

Synopsis

In unmistakable Highsmithian fashion, Small g, Patricia Highsmith's final novel, opens near a seedy Zurich bar with the brutal murder of Petey Ritter. Unraveling the vagaries of love, sexuality, jealousy, and death, Highsmith weaves a mystery both hilarious and astonishing, a classic fairy tale executed with a characteristic penchant for darkness. Published in paperback for the first time in America, Small g is at once an exorcism of Highsmith's literary demons and a revelatory capstone to a wholly remarkable career. It is a delightfully incantatory work that, in the tradition of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, shows us how bizarre and unpredictable love can be.

About this title

Review:

"All the qualities we love about Highsmith's work . . . are here in abundance . . . her characters astonish themselves, and us, by discovering love in the very last places they ever expected to find it."

All the qualities we love about Highsmith's work are here in abundance her characters astonish themselves, and us, by discovering love in the very last places they ever expected to find it. --Francine Prose"

Its superabundance of characters is only one of the elements that give Small g its air of Shakespearean complexity. --David Leavitt"

Small g is a welcome addition to Highsmith's published novels, offering readers an insight into a fascinating aspect of Swiss society and an opportunity to explore Highsmith's final concerns and obsessions. --Louise Welsh"

Highsmith's last book offer[s] an intriguing exploration of gay culture and the complexities of love, jealousy, possessiveness and friendship. --Misha Stone"

The best thing about Small g is the affectionate homage it pays to relationships that are not exclusive or possessive, that may or may not be sexual, but which have the power to create happiness or break a stranglehold that is choking off a full, delicious life. "

All those qualities that have made Highsmith such an important figure--her carefully crafted prose, her understanding of human frailties and the randomness of life--are present in this final work.--Aaron Stander

About the Author:

Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was the author of more than twenty novels, including Strangers on a Train, The Price of Salt, The Blunderer and The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as numerous short stories.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0140252355
• ISBN 13: 9780140252354
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272