Mermaids on the Golf Course

First edition (publ. Heinemann)

Mermaids on the Golf Course (1985) is a collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith, encompassing her standard themes of murder, violence, secrets and insanity.[1]

## Overview[edit]

The stories all serve as an exposé of the underbelly of American middle-class society, including the titular tale of a man whose near death experience casts a dark shadow over the rest of his days, and another about a husband who exacts cruel revenge on his wife by exploiting her habit of preserving dead pets in their garden.[2]

Other stories in the collection are set outside of the US. For example 'A Clock Ticks at Christmas' is set in France, and 'A Shot From Nowhere' in Mexico. Both are countries in which Highsmith lived, and, like her novels, feature distinctly middle and upper-class characters.

## Contents[edit]

* "Mermaids on the Golf Course"
* "The Button"
* "Where the Action Is"
* "Chris's Last Party"
* "A Clock Ticks at Christmas"
* "A Shot from Nowhere"
* "The Stuff of Madness"
* "Not in This Life, Maybe the Next"
* "I Am Not As Efficient As Other People"
* "The Cruellest Month"
* "The Romantic"

## Reception[edit]

* One of the exhilarating effects of reading Highsmith's stories is their sure handedness, their amazing breadth and abundance. They compel attention and they add significantly to her already formidable presence. \- James Lasdun, Washington Post
* A true master of the psychological thriller. \- Bookforum
* An atmosphere of nameless dread, of unspeakable foreboding, permeates every page of Patricia Highsmith, and there's nothing quite like it. \- Boston Globe
* It should not now be necessary to expound on Highsmith's great gift...Like Graham Greene, she knows she has no need to gesticulate. \- The Times Literary Supplement

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Mermaids on the Golf Course (Main Page)". Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
2. ^ Highsmith, Patricia (17 July 2003). Mermaids on the Golf Course: Stories. ISBN 0393324567.

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Patricia Highsmith

Bibliography

Novels|

* Strangers on a Train (1950)
* The Price of Salt (as Claire Morgan) (1952)
* The Blunderer (1954)
* Deep Water (1957)
* A Game for the Living (1958)
* This Sweet Sickness (1960)
* The Cry of the Owl (1962)
* The Two Faces of January (1964)
* The Glass Cell (1964)
* A Suspension of Mercy (1965)
* Those Who Walk Away (1967)
* The Tremor of Forgery (1969)
* A Dog's Ransom (1972)
* Edith's Diary (1977)
* People Who Knock on the Door (1983)
* Found in the Street (1987)
* Small g: a Summer Idyll (1995)

Ripley series|

* The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
* Ripley Under Ground (1970)
* Ripley's Game (1974)
* The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980)
* Ripley Under Water (1991)

Short story collections|

* Little Tales of Misogyny (1974)
* The Black House (1981)
* Mermaids on the Golf Course (1985)

Adaptations|

* Strangers on a Train (1951)
* Purple Noon (1960)
* Enough Rope (1963)
* Once You Kiss a Stranger (1969)
* The American Friend (1977)
* This Sweet Sickness (1977)
* A Dog's Ransom (1978)
* The Glass Cell (1978)
* The Cry of the Owl (1987)
* The Story Teller (1989)
* Once You Meet a Stranger (1996)
* The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
* Ripley's Game (2002)
* Ripley Under Ground (2005)
* The Cry of the Owl (2009)
* The Two Faces of January (2014)
* Carol (2015)
* A Kind of Murder (2016)
* Deep Water (2022)
* Ripley (TBA)

Characters|

* Tom Ripley

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