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Im a few chapters in so far. It's definitely giving me a very good 'picture' of mid-century NYC. It's odd, the film never made me think of this, but the book makes me think of the series 'Are You Being Served?', perhaps because the beginning goes into more detail about Therese's department store job. A few decades are off and there's different continents, but this career salespeople in a large department store vibe is similar, and the early scene in the store dining room reminds me of the episodes of Are You Being Served? when they eat in the dining room. Also, though a decade off too, Inside Llewyn Davis came to mind when Therese and Richard meet the other two men one of whom may get her a job. Just that feeling of poorer, artsy, even edgy NYC in a still very conservative but changing post-world-wars time, and in that vein I guess there's also Breakfast at Tiffany's to throw in the mix.
One thing I found very interesting for a book from the 1950s, though much less so considering the subject matter, is when it's mentioned that many little girls come to see the dolls and pick out their favourite, and also very rarely some little boys. It was just a throwaway line, but that Highsmith even thought to include it is remarkable to me since I think many authors wouldn't have mentioned boys with dolls at all.
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