Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: fresh hell, pretty little picture, big blonde, New York, Vanity Fair, Marc Connelly (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Meade's lively biography recounts the unhappy life of the wise-cracking versifier, short story writer and critic," reported PW. "So detailed is Meade's book that this, one imagines, is the last time a biographer will need to explain why so talented a writer could at the same time be so nasty a human being." Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Dorothy Parker was known for her outrageous one-liners, her ruthless theater criticism, her clever verses and bittersweet stories, but there was another side to Dorothy Parker--a private life, set on a course of destruction. She suffered through two divorces, a string of painful affairs, a lifelong problem with alcohol, and several suicide attempts.

In this lively, absorbing biography, Marion Meade illuminates both the dark side of Parker and her days of wicked wittiness at the Algonquin Round Table with the likes of Robert Benchley, George Kaufman, and Harold Ross, and in Hollywood with S.J. Perelman, William Faulkner, and Lilian Hellman. At the dazzling center of it all, Meade gives us the flamboyant, self-destructive, and brilliant Dorothy Parker.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 458 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 3, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140116168
• ISBN-13: 978-0140116168
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Decent Parker Biography, October 23, 2000

By	A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com "What is your... (Glen Ellyn, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I don't think there is another decent review of Dorothy Parker's life in print.

I could go on and on about the individual bits of interesting data the book highlights: her relationship with Benchley, the Algonquin Round Table, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, plus her socio-political views, her misguided love life, her bitterness/love toward men. I suppose I could tell you a lot about what this book says in these regards.

I could lament how I think she is still an underrated fiction writer, as most people get stuck on her quips and witticisms, but her better skill was in unpeeling the subtleties of the everyday moment. I could, couldn't I?

There is plenty I could say about her insecurities, her foolish business mistakes and something bizarre about her dog. Oh yes, that would be interesting, that whole dog thing.

Instead, I'll just tell you this book is what is says, a thorough examination of the life of Dorothy Parker. You will be happy you bought it. It says everything I didn't say and more.

I fully recommend this book.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful biography, November 27, 2002

By	Patricia R. Andersen "redheaded booklover" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I was amazed to learn what I didn't know about Dorothy Parker - despite the fact I thought I knew a _lot_ about her. I was wrong and you might be, too. Did she really marry a homosexual man twice? What really was the relationship between Dorthy and Robert Benchley? Was she a Communist? And is Lillian Hellman as wonderful as M's Hellman makes herself out to be? These questions (and of course much more) are answered by this book.
You may think you know Dorthy Parker, with her "Men don't make passes.." and other witticisms that seemed to spring effortlessly from her mouth, but she was a lot more than a "flapper" or perhaps an "early feminist" - she was a true bundle of contradictions.
It's not the "feel good" story of the year, after all, if you've been interested in Dorothy Parker enough to read this far, you already know how the story will end. But it still is a wonderful read.
I suggest reading this with "The Portable Parker" as it definitely gives you an insight into the way her mind worked.
I intend to find out the exact address of her ashes and pay a visit to that esteemed place, since I now know where her ashes are located. And you will, too, if you take my advice and read this book.

38 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Loved Meade's Subject, Hated the Book, June 12, 2000

By	Kellie A. Cardwell (Arlington, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

Maybe Marion Meade watches Lifetime TV a little too often, as her volume on Dorothy Parker has about as much punch as an anemic anorexic. Am I really expected to absorb page after page of Meade's re-telling of Parker's rise to literary fame and personal defeat, without ever encountering a four-letter word? (OK, once or twice, but c'mon!) I couldn't tell if Meade was intimidated by her subject, or felt it best to take a kindler, gentler approach to the forked-tongued legend. She hits all the obligatory marks: Parker's friendship with Robert Benchley, her drinking problem, the failed marriages, etc. If you are looking for a serious volume that speaks of Parker's stormy life, yet doesn't brush over the literary highlights, then please, I beg you, skip this one. Meade's chronological, plodding glimpes into Parker's world often include gaping holes, though if you can follow the basic plot lines of any given daytime soap, you shouldn't bother yourself with too much head-scratching. Meade has Parker writing a ditty, inspired by Benchley, published in The New Yorker on page 112, so of course, by page 114 it's time for us, the captive reader, to learn how the great magazine was founded--spoon fed, style. If you are familiar with Parker as that witty flapper lady who wrote "Big Blonde", then Meade's work will be gratifying. However, Parker herself also wrote "I Hate Women--They Get On My Nerves." Her sentiment can certainly be applied to Marion Meade's diluted biography. She undoubtedly tried her best, and probably sleuthed out some uncovered tidbits, but Meade's grasp on her subject is about as tight as Parker's was over her own life. Maybe that's the point, but Parker managed to have substance AND style, which are not words that can apply to "What Fresh Hell is This"? The title says it all.