Tom Ripley is the ultimate bad boy in this first novel by Patricia Highsmith. A product of a broken home and labeled a “sissy” by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley becomes enamored of the moneyed world of his new friend Dickie Greenleaf. Imbued with a sense of entitlement and using Dickie’s trust fund as collateral, Tom begins to groom himself for his newly created identity: Dickie Greenleaf. By becoming somebody else, he can be anyone – even someone who doesn’t exist.
A suave and handsome young striver newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan in the 1950s, Tom Ripley is recruited by his social-climbing neighbor to find Dickie Greenleaf’s long-lost son. As “Riley” and Dickie become friends and then pull off a scam that changes both of their lives, Tom Ripley discovers what it is like to be wealthy. He’ll do anything for money—and his new identity as someone else.
From the author of Strangers on a Train, the first Tom Ripley novel. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a masterpiece that has inspired countless imitators and fans. Still, no other author has ever captured the essence of danger in the immigrant underclass, as well as Patricia Highsmith. With her clear-eyed view into human nature, she paints an unforgettable portrait of a cold-blooded killer who takes what he wants by any means necessary—and does so with style and grace.
About The Talented Mr. Ripley Book
Since his debut in 1955, Tom Ripley has evolved into the ultimate bad-boy sociopath, influencing countless novelists and filmmakers. In this first novel, we are introduced to suave, handsome Tom Ripley: a young striver, newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan in the 1950s. A product of a broken home, branded a “sissy” by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley becomes enamored of the moneyed world of his new friend, Dickie Greenleaf.
This fondness turns obsessive when Ripley is sent to Italy to bring back his libertine pal but grows enraged by Dickie’s ambivalent feelings for Marge, a charming American dilettante. A dark reworking of Henry James’s The Ambassadors, The Talented Mr. Ripley—is up to his tricks in a 90s film and also Rene Clement’s 60s film, “Purple Noon.”
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers, leading to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.
She lived with her grandmother, mother, and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before ‘Patsy’ was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.
