Rating: 
Summary: Criminally Ignored
Review: This is an excellent introduction to one of the century's sharpest, funniest writers. Her real talents lay in the acidic theatre and book reviews, which are never less than 2000-word masterpieces.The poetry is much too self-conscious to be great (but then a lot of poetry has that effect on me) and the short stories are rather over-egged puddings, but you could still buy this book for the reviews alone. I only wish I had Dorothy's talent for book-reviewing!
Rating:
Summary: This is as good as it gets.
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: More than just a starter book
Review: 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
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