Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes

"Whereas we read Stephen King or Ruth Rendell to relish the thrills that come from carefully controlled verbal terror, Highsmith is not to be taken so lightly. She conveys a firm, unshakable belief in the existence of evil--personal, psychological, and political. ... The genius of "Tales"--and all of Highsmith's writing--is that it is at once deeply disturbing and exhilarating."--"Boston Phoenix""Highsmith is the poet of apprehension rather than fear. ... In her short stories Highsmith naturally has to adopt a different method. She is after the quick kill rather than the slow encirclement of the reader, and how admirably and with what field-craft she hunts us down." --Graham Greene"One of the truly brilliant short-story writers of the 20th century." --Otto Penzler"Highsmith's genius is in presenting fantasy's paradox: successes are not what they seem . . . Where in the traditional fairy tale the heroine turns the toad into a prince, in Highsmith's fable the prince becomes a toad--success is nearly always fatal. ... Combining the best features of the suspense genre with the best of existential fiction--a reflection--the stories are fabulous, in all senses of that word."--Paul Theroux"You could swear she's writing fact wrapped up in very sly fiction . . . definitely worth reading." --"San Francisco Chronicle""The stories are flush with satire, mischief and menace. Hers is a world consumed by self-destruction, driven by stupidity, greed and self-interest--a place where the human race cannibalizes its own. ... [Her stories] unsettle the soul and dampen the palms."--"Harper's Bazaar"