Customer Reviews

The Portable Dorothy Parker

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's not enough to say that Dorothy Parker was great, or that she was brilliant. It's hard to see from a distance her colossal impact on the literary world. When you buy this book (and you WILL buy it; these aren't the droids you're looking for) immediately read some of the very earliest stories. They are of WWI vintage or so. If you remember high school literature, short stories written just before Parker put pen to paper were the somewhat longer "chapter of a novel" type, of Guy de Maupassant, or W. Somerset Maugham. Dorothy Parker virtually invented the "slice of life" short story, which she brought to the New Yorker. This style became the standard of the fledgling magazine, popular with the public, and without a doubt helped get the magazine off the ground.

This style is still the pervasive one today.

Short stories were not all Mrs. Parker wrote. She wrote play reviews, and as Constant Reader book reviews. She could dismiss a play with "House Beautiful is Play Lousy," or take down her least favored AA Milne with "Tonstant Weader frowed up." She once spent the better part of a review complaining about her hang-over. She kept New Yorker readers coming back week after week, laugh junkies after a fix. And so she changed the voice of the reviewer as well. Previously, the reviewer voice had been detached and quite dry, rattling off obligatory lines about the costumes, the sets, the leading actor, the leading actress-- as predictable as the label on a shampoo bottle. The wonderful Libby Gelman-Waxner is her direct descendent. Pauline Kael is a niece, although she might have bristled at the suggestion. Andrew Harris and Elvis Mitchell can thank Mrs. Parker for their unfettered freedom.

The best thing about reading this collection is discovering the sheer joy Mrs. Parker took in writing. She was good and she knew it.

She once said, in reviewing the unfortunate book Debonair, that the curse of a satirist is that "she writes superbly of the things she hates," but when she tries to write of things she likes, "the result is appalling." Personally, I find Parker moving and eloquent in her reviews of the Journal of Katherine Mansfield, and Isadora Duncan's posthumously published autobiography, two books that touched and impressed her, but it is true that her distinctive voice croons most seductively when she doesn't like something. Unfortunately, one is left with the impression that she didn't like much other than gin, Seconal and dogs, but I don't think that's true. If she were as unhappy as is commonly believed, she would have escalated her suicidal behavior, and not have lived to the age of 74. She would not have had the passion to march for the acquittal of Sacco and Venzetti, to travel to Spain during the country's civil war, to volunteer as a war correspondent during WWII, and to join in voice and body the civil rights movement in her last decade.

I think disdain rather than anger is a better word for what she felt towards the targets of her wit-- and it is true that sometimes a retrospective view of her own behavior was the target, but the ability to laugh at oneself is the sign of, well, if not mental health, at least a well-rounded emotional self.

And by the way, since Parker had no heirs, she left her estate, including future earnings from her work, to Dr. Martin Luther King jr., and when he sadly died the year after she did, he passed on the right to profit from the Parker works to the NAACP, so for every copy of this book sold, the author's cut profits the NAACP.

On one occasion, when challenged by a friend to use the word 'horticulture' in a sentence, Dorothy Parker replied "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think." Possessed of a razor sharp intelligence and a wicked turn of phrase, she stands as perhaps the single finest American wit and humorist of the early 20th Century. This expanded edition of THE PORTABLE DOROTHY PARKER collects all three of her volumes of poetry, both volumes of her collected short stories, and a great deal more besides--all of it guaranteed to give readers hour after delightful hour.

Like her contemporary and only serious competitor James Thurber, Parker's work often focused on the battle of the sexes, and many of her short stories--such as "Dusk Before Fireworks," "You Were Perfectly Fine," and "Here We Are"--present savagely funny portaits of couples who are on the edge in more ways than one. She is also extremely famous for her 'monologue' stories, particularly "Telephone Call," in which the reader essentially overhears the thoughts of the character it portrays. But she is perhaps best remembered for her sharply comic poetry, which is typically written as a subverted 'jingle' that goes unexpectedly awry, often in the most morbid way imaginable; "One Perfect Rose" and "You Might As Well Live," to name but two, have been standards of American poetry collections since they were first published. And no theatrical critic has ever equalled Parker for sheer comic acidity.

But Parker was not simply a humorist. While a number of her poems address deeper subjects--"Rainy Night" is particularly memorable--many of her short stories are intensely dramatic. "Big Blonde" details the slow decline of a woman who is passed from man to man, never finding happiness and drifting into alcoholism and attempted suicide; "Clothe the Naked" presents a touching portrait of a black woman struggling to survive in a hostile white world. Her eye for detail is remarkable; her style is distinctly her own, a mixture of the clinical and the wryly comic; be it comic or tragic, she is in full command of her art in every selection. This is one that belongs on your shelf, no question about it. Strongly, strongly recommended.

This is the one you want. The sum of it all, or at least, the bulk of Dorothy Parker's best stuff. Buy this book first, read it, then read it to your friends. Then buy them a copy.

Read to your friends her gloriously articulate rips into her peers' books, her acidicly cynical (but humbly honest) poetry about her relationships, and her well-crafted stories about a moment in life. Pour some coffee, then read some more.

You probably know her quote about 'horticulture' and might be familiar with what she said about the girls from Yale. Maybe in high school you read her famous poem, "Resume" ("Razors pain you/acid stains you..."). Now, introduce yourself to her other work. Her poems and other turns-of-phrase are never raunchy, but somehow, in her brutal clarity, some still fill in the not so naive reader with plenty to laugh at.

Her stories helped found the New Yorker Magazine, where she was an editor. Her book reviews are on the insightful, smirking level of Mark Twain's review of "Last of the Mohicans." Her ability to insult a book or play is more than just witty, but more than often intensely accurate. She wasn't just making fun of a writer, but educating them. She tore them apart and had them happier for it.

Brendan Gill's intro will give her writing context, helping you see why she wrote the way she did.

I learned from Parker how to take a few minutes and see the complex subtleties and find a story it (read "A Telephone Call" as an example). Her craft is masterful, allowing her wit and sense of social nuance show through.

Fans of Flannery O'Connor, Joyce Carol Oates, and even the short stories of Ernest Hemingway will love her.

I fully recommend this book.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Every non-cheerleader, adolescent female should have a copy of this anthology. To quote George Bernard Shaw, "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." Dorothy Parker specializes in acidic humor. From Resume to Unfortunate Coincidence to her short story the Waltz, Parker presents acerbic wit at it's best. This anthology helped me survive high school. You don't have to be depressed or pessimistic to appreciate Parker's poems and stories. Her humor is reminiscient of Shaw, Fielding and others: it's biting and casts no illusions over life, but presents the negative with humor. Also an excellent book for those who are single on Valentine's Day. ;)

This is the best--the very, very best writings of an extremely talented, yet still underrated, author. Dorothy Parker: her loneliness and anger are only slightly concealed by her brittle humor. Read "Lady With a Lamp" if you want to experience the nature of true sadism: not physical pain, but ultimate despair is brought to an ill woman by one of her 'friends'. "Horsie" is a sad examination of the relationship between a homely woman of repressed passion and the shallow couple who employ her. "The Last Tea": anyone who's been in a dying relationship, who isn't willing to admit that it has ended, can understand the female protagonist's every move. Those are my favorites, but every story in this volume is delightful. And then there are her reviews. My favorite is the scathing, nasty review of A.A. Milne's "Give Me Yesterday"--that play was actually produced? Her poetry is excellent, as well--I prefer her prose and her reviews, however. This is one of the five books I'm taking to my desert island. Read it!

Dorothy has a possession of the english language that is almost demonic, and coupled with her insight into the weaknesses of human nature (not to mention her own), her prose and poetry are witty, cutting and hilarious. Her poetry is short and quotable and her short stories explored the mundane and ridiculous of American Life far earlier than most writers. My favorites, however, are her book and play reviews. They are genius, and can leave you rolling on the floor. This is my favorite collection of Dorothy's work. I have found that collections of only poetry or short stories soon became tedious and extremely depressing (I wonder if Dorothy on Prozak would have produced such great work). This is an excellent volume for those just discovering Dorothy, and great to keep handy for a "little read."

I suspect that Dorothy Parker was angry most of the time. It certainly seems so from her writing. Yet she seems to have enjoyed the state of being angry more than any other writer I can think of. This excellent collection of her poetry and prose presents a brilliant cynical take on the world she inhabited. One we largely still inhabit. I have heard her condemned as a product of her time and place, but the insight and emotional connection that readers still feel from her jabs and verbal skewerings, is quite real and personal. She had a way of turning the pain in her life into a good joke - often at her own expense - expressed in a truely memorable way. She also could deflate others (especially in her reviews) with a skill that few writers have ever possessed.

For those gifted with a little anger at the world, this book offers a brilliant collection of ways to express it.

Lips that taste of tears, they say,
Are the best for kissing. ~Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker died the year I was born and yet she seems like a modern writer you'd like to meet and talk to for hours. While she lived a troubled life she is a fascinating study. While in France she became friends with Earnest Hemingway and soon thereafter published her first book of poetry, "Enough Rope." She writes about her friendship with Earnest in the Uncollected Articles section.

Of all her writing, her poems strike me as her true self. She reveals so much in her poetry and many times her feelings reach new levels of desperation. She doesn't seem to find as many beautiful moments as Anais Nin, but then again she manages to continue the struggle of life without taking her life in a river like Virginia Woolf.

The true irony of her life is that she dies of natural causes after spending a life embraced in a dream of death. When she wishes people were dead, it might be because she sees death as some beautiful way to escape reality.

The memorable short stories make extended points about human nature and page 48 is an especially good example of a page dripping heavily with sardonic wit. Where did all this angst come from? She is a woman living in a time where she cannot always speak her mind and she is deeply frustrated in many of her "internal dialogue" confessions.

When given the choice between creating and curing, she seems to create from a place of deep emotional pain. She seems to fall into similar patterns and actually seems to revel the idea of: "I wore my heart like a wet, red stain on the breast of a velvet gown."

Dorothy Parker's poems seem to be more of her desire to break free from the brutal revelation of life. She has a typical love-hate relationship with men and is an astute observer of cultural trends. I have a feeling she wrote many of her poems while she was in a manic state of some sort because she reveals so many of her feelings and comments so deeply on her life experience. The first few lines of "Wisdom," show her frustration.

This I say, and this I know:
Love has seen the last of me.
Love's a trodden lane to woe,
Love's a path to misery.

She seems to be having a bipolar diatribe during the story of the Telephone Call. Her mean streak can be a bit shocking at times, but she does love rain and has other sensitive qualities which seem to balance this more sarcastic and vindictive side of her personality.

Dorothy Parker wrote reviews under the title "The Constant Reader." There are quite a few reviews from The New Yorker. She reviews The Journal of Katherine Mansfield and We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirley Jackson. I enjoyed her conversational style and the way she thinks through her writing while she writes. It is as if you are observing the entire thought process. You can read her thoughts about Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband from Vanity Fair.

One of my friends reads me Hemingway and I read him Dorothy Parker poems. It is a friendship made in heaven. He also knows all about Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table and has lists of books for me to read. This book is my first Dorothy Parker experience and I found many poems that I loved and quotes that are definitely collectable. This is an enjoyable introduction to Dorothy Parker that may end up with many highlighted pages.

You may also enjoy reading: Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament

~The Rebecca Review

This has been one of my "always by my side" books for several years now. The short stories are ironic and witty, the poetry is amazing. Of everything, I would probably say the best part of this collection is the poetry. Ms. Parker has a brilliant sense of humor and she reveals an essence of feminism one can relish for years to come.

Dorothy Parker was brilliant! Sure I'd have been afraid of her and that whip-sharp mind of hers that could unleash a rapier wit with seeming ease, but I love her stories, poems, and essays. This "portable" anthology of the great lady's writings is a perfect marriage of the printed word compacted into an accessible format. This is a book to sit back and fall into, as one slips into tales peopled with a cast of (surely Hell-bound) movers and shakers, all infused with the cool, trademarked Parker style. Recommended sans hesitation!