The stories assembled in Nothing That Meets the Eye, written between 1938 and 1982, are vintage Highsmith: a gigolo-like psychopath preys on unfulfilled career women; a lonely spinster's fragile hold on reality is tethered to the bottle; an estranged postal worker invents homicidal fantasies about his co-workers. While some stories anticipate the diabolical narratives of the Ripley novels, others possess a Capra-like sweetness that forces us to see the author in a new light. From this collection, a remarkable portrait of the American psyche at mid-century emerges.

Contents:

• The Mightiest Mornings
• Uncertain Treasure
• Magic Casements
• Miss Juste and the Green Rompers
• Where the Door Is Always Open and the Welcome Mat Is Out
• In the Plaza
• The Hollow Oracle
• The Great Cardhouse
• The Car
• The Still Point of the Turning World
• The Pianos of the Steinachs
• A Mighty Nice Man
• Quiet Night
• Doorbell for Louisa
• A Bird in Hand
• Music to Die By
• Man's Best Friend
• Born Failure
• A Dangerous Hobby
• The Returnees
• Nothing That Meets the Eye
• Two Disagreeable Pigeons
• Variations on a Game
• A Girl like Phyl
• It's a Deal
• Things Had Gone Badly
• The Trouble with Mrs. Blynn, the Trouble with the World
• The Second Cigarette