Flung Out of Space

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A fictional and complex portrait of bestselling author Patricia Highsmith, this work serves as both a love letter to her queer classic, The Price of Salt, and an exploration of its notorious author. Veteran comics creators Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer narrate the story through Highsmith’s perspective, reimagining the events that inspired her foundational piece of queer literature. The narrative begins with Pat reluctantly writing low-brow comics, feeling trapped in a life of drinking, smoking, and self-loathing. She yearns to create the great novel she knows she can write—what will eventually become Strangers on a Train, later adapted into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock. Amidst her struggles with conversion therapy and a series of fleeting relationships, a chance encounter in a department store sparks the idea for her groundbreaking tale of lesbian love that defies conventions by offering a happy ending. This story delves into the complexities of a flawed queer artist and captures the challenges of writing in the 1950s while reflecting on the timeless struggle to find one’s voice. Ellis contextualizes Highsmith as an unintentional queer icon, grappling with her controversial legacy, marked by problematic views and a life that mirrored the dark twists of her fiction.