Rating: 
Summary: Candid, outrageous, sad and saucy...Just like Mrs. Parker!
Review: "What Fresh Hell is This" was recommended to me by a co-worker. I found it to be a very easy read about a woman about whom we don't know much. It's at times touching--stories of her multiple suicide attempts; at times juicy--the tales of herself and her many friends like Robert Benchley, and at times, very forthright in letting us know that behind the wit of the Round Table was a woman who had many troubles in her life, but still manages to plow through. I recommend it to anybody who likes a light read about a lady whose style was anything but light. Five stars! Ron Caldwell
Rating:
Summary: Only Decent Parker Biography
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and Engrossing
Review: I have read several bios of Parker, as well as bios of and memoirs by other denizens of the Round Table, and this book is BY FAR the most complete. Meade punctures so many of the oft-told tales about Parker, which are blythely repeated in other bios. She interviewed anyone and everyone still alive who could shed light on Parker, and does an impressive bit of detective work to prove that one of Lillian Hellman's many self-aggrandize stories was a fabrication. The negative reviews here are just puzzling to me -- I can't understand what more they want from this book. Far from being full of gossip or taking a kid-glove approach, this biography is exhaustively researched, fully footnoted, and shows all the contradictory -- sometimes unpleasant -- colors of Dorothy Parker.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful biography
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
Review: Like many of her witty pals at the Algonquin roundtable, Parker is relatively unknown to the general public today. Unlike her contemporaries (and friends) Fitzgerald and Hemingway, she never wrote a novel to insure her immortality. This is sad, but somehow appropriate, because as Meade's excellent biography illustratrates, Dorothy didn't want to live unitl next week, let alone forever. Fortunately, Meade has captured all of the spirit (and most of the quips) of this depressed, funny and above all, complex woman.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved Meade's Subject, Hated the Book
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Loved Meade's Subject, Hated the Book
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The light and the dark sides of a literary legend
Review: Meade's book, obviously the result of years of research, takes the reader behind the public image of Dorothy Parker as just the rapier wit of the Algonquin Round Table to show us the complexity of her life. The joy and the tears are both well presented. This is a great read, even for those who are not familiar with Parker. A remarkable book about a remarkable woman.
Rating: 
Summary: What Fresh Smell Was This?
Review: Not my kind of biography. Its gossipy tone wore thin after the first fifty pages; after that, I spent the rest of the read searching (in vain) for some pattern, some contingency, some attempt on Meade's part to present the events of Parker's tragic life in any sort of meaningful way. If such a framework was there, I missed it. It just read like a long, dreary cat fest to me. Also, was I the only one that noticed how poorly edited this book was? I counted six passages where the same information was repeated twice --- again, not in a meaningful way, just phrases redundantly stuck there, like two forks in a Thanksgiving turkey. I gave it 3 stars instead of one or two, because I thought it might be a interesting read for someone who enjoys a biography with a lot of juicy gossip.
Rating:
Summary: What Fresh Smell Was This?
Review: Not my kind of biography. Its gossipy tone wore thin after the first fifty pages; after that, I spent the rest of the read searching (in vain) for some pattern, some contingency, some attempt on Meade's part to present the events of Parker's tragic life in any sort of meaningful way. If such a framework was there, I missed it. It just read like a long, dreary cat fest to me. Also, was I the only one that noticed how poorly edited this book was? I counted six passages where the same information was repeated twice --- again, not in a meaningful way, just phrases redundantly stuck there, like two forks in a Thanksgiving turkey. I gave it 3 stars instead of one or two, because I thought it might be a interesting read for someone who enjoys a biography with a lot of juicy gossip.
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