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Dorothy Parker (1) (1893–1967)

Author of The Portable Dorothy Parker [1973 Deluxe Edition]

For other authors named Dorothy Parker, see the disambiguation page.

380+ Works 9,655 Members 120 Reviews 138 Favorited

About the Author

Poet and short story writer Dorothy Parker was born in New Jersey on August 22, 1893. When she was 5, her mother died and her father, a clothes salesman, remarried. Parker had a great antipathy toward her stepmother and refused to speak to her. She attended parochial school and Miss Dana's school show more in Morristown, New Jersey, for a brief time before dropping out at age 14. A voracious reader, she decided to pursue a career in literature. She began her career by writing verse as well as captions for a fashion magazine. During the years of her greatest fame, Dorothy Parker was known primarily as a writer of light verse, an essential member of the Algonquin Round Table, and a caustic and witty critic of literature and society. She is remembered now as an almost legendary figure of the 1920s and 1930s. Her reviews and staff contributions to three of the most sophisticated magazines of this century, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, and Esquire, were notable for their put-downs. For all her highbrow wit, however, Dorothy Parker was liberal, even radical, in her political views, and the hard veneer of brittle toughness that she showed to the world was often a shield for frustrated idealism and soft sensibilities. The best of her fiction is marked by a balance of ironic detachment and sympathetic compassion, as in "Big Blonde," which won the O. Henry Award for 1929 and is still her best-remembered and most frequently anthologized story. The best of Dorothy Parker is readily and compactly accessible in The Portable Dorothy Parker. Her own selection of stories and verse for the original edition of that compilation, published in 1944, remains intact in the revised edition, but included also are additional stories, reviews, and articles. Parker died of a heart attack at the age of 73 in 1967. In her will, she bequeathed her estate to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. foundation. Following King's death, her estate was passed on to the NAACP. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Works by Dorothy Parker

The Portable Dorothy Parker [2006 Deluxe Edition] (2006) — Author — 1,479 copies
Complete Stories (1995) 1,054 copies
The Portable Dorothy Parker (1944) 513 copies
The Best of Dorothy Parker (1965) 380 copies
Complete Poems (1999) 325 copies
The Collected Dorothy Parker (2001) 270 copies
Enough Rope (1926) 214 copies
Big Blonde and Other Stories (1995) 191 copies
Laments for the Living (1930) 148 copies
Dorothy Parker Stories (1930) 130 copies
After Such Pleasures (1933) 119 copies
Sunset Gun (1928) 117 copies
Not So Deep As A Well (1937) 104 copies
Death and Taxes (1931) 87 copies
The Custard Heart (2018) 79 copies
A Star Is Born [1937 film] (1937) — Screenwriter — 65 copies
Constant Reader (1656) 63 copies
The Indispensable F. Scott Fitzgerald (1945) — Composer — 61 copies
The Ladies of the Corridor (1954) 54 copies
Candide: A Comic Operetta (1956) — Lyricist — 52 copies
The Little Foxes [1941 film] (1941) — Screenwriter — 51 copies
La Soledad de Las Parejas (1989) 35 copies
Big Blonde {story} (2013) — Author — 29 copies
La vie à deux (1983) 24 copies
Il mio mondo è qui (1939) 18 copies
Uomini che non ho sposato (2016) — Contributor — 15 copies
Je was geweldig (1983) 13 copies
Dusk Before Fireworks (1996) 13 copies
Comme une valse (1989) 13 copies
Tanto vale vivere (1993) 11 copies
Parker: Selected Stories (2018) 9 copies
Cor de crema (1995) 8 copies
Candide: Original 1956 Broadway Cast Recording (2003) — Lyricist — 8 copies
Hymnes à la haine (2002) 8 copies
A Telephone Call (1928) 7 copies
Giochi di società (2013) 6 copies
Here We Are 6 copies
Collected Works (1973) 5 copies
Colgando de un hilo (2015) 5 copies
Die Geschlechter (1944) 4 copies
Men, women and dogs. a book of drawings (1943) — Foreword — 4 copies
New Yorker Geschichten (2016) 4 copies
Eccoci qui (2013) 4 copies
Contos de Dorothy Parker (2007) 3 copies
Spreekt u maar 3 copies
Little Curtis 3 copies
The Last Tea 3 copies
At Her Best (1940) 2 copies
Big Blonde; Horsie (1995) 2 copies
Résumé 2 copies
Far From Well (1928) 2 copies
Comment [poem] 2 copies
Articles et critiques (2002) 2 copies
Here We Are {play} (1963) 2 copies
Horsie 2 copies
Mr. Durant 2 copies
The Waltz 2 copies
Too Bad 2 copies
Sentiment 2 copies
Cousin Larry 2 copies
Penelope 1 copy
Bohemia 1 copy
Mortal Enemy 1 copy
George Sand 1 copy
Fulfillment 1 copy
Surprise 1 copy
Afternoon 1 copy
The Homebody 1 copy
Second Love 1 copy
Fair Weather 1 copy
Story 1 copy
Frustration 1 copy
Heald 1 copy
Oscar Wilde 1 copy
To Newcastle 1 copy
The Choice 1 copy
Landscape 1 copy
Nocturne 1 copy
Interview 1 copy
Experience 1 copy
Godmother 1 copy
Roundel 1 copy
Victoria 1 copy
Observations 1 copy
Bric-à-Brac 1 copy
Interior 1 copy
Incurable 1 copy
Summary 1 copy
The Sea 1 copy
Transition 1 copy
Midnight 1 copy
Ultimatum 1 copy
The Willow 1 copy
Requiescat 1 copy
Sight 1 copy
Prisoner 1 copy
Temps Perdu 1 copy
The Fan [1949 film] (2013) — Writer — 1 copy
Trade Winds [1938 film] — Screenwriter — 1 copy
Suzy [1936 film] — Screenwriter — 1 copy
Liebestod 1 copy
Dilemma 1 copy
Theory 1 copy
Wisdom 1 copy
Coda 1 copy
Distance 1 copy
Sanctuary 1 copy
Cherry White 1 copy
My Own 1 copy
Solace 1 copy
Little Words 1 copy
Garden-Spot 1 copy
Lullaby 1 copy
News Item 1 copy
Week's End 1 copy
My Home Town 1 copy
Not Enough 1 copy
Any Porch 1 copy
For R. C. B. 1 copy
No More Fun 1 copy
The Game 1 copy
The Midnight Line (1999) 1 copy
Lolita 1 copy
Story {poem} 1 copy
War Song 1 copy
[No title] 1 copy
Big Loira 1 copy
Dikter 1 copy
Hero Worship 1 copy
Men 1 copy
L'Envoi 1 copy
Testament 1 copy
Condolence 1 copy
A Portrait 1 copy
Inventory 1 copy
Plea 1 copy
Pattern 1 copy
De Profundis 1 copy
They Party 1 copy
Renunciation 1 copy
The Veteran 1 copy
Godspeed 1 copy
Social Note 1 copy
Love Song 1 copy
Philosophy 1 copy
The Leal 1 copy
August 1 copy
Epitaph 1 copy
Threnody 1 copy
The Trifler 1 copy
Convalescent 1 copy
Wail 1 copy
Braggart 1 copy
Paths 1 copy
Hearthside 1 copy
Rainy Night 1 copy
The New Love 1 copy
Anecdote 1 copy
Recurrence 1 copy

Associated Works

The Best American Short Stories of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 1,568 copies
50 Great Short Stories (1952) — Contributor — 1,266 copies
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (2005) — Contributor — 1,222 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 929 copies
Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (2007) — Contributor — 536 copies
Fifty Great American Short Stories (1965) — Contributor — 438 copies
Points of View: Revised Edition (1966) — Contributor — 416 copies
The Most of S.J.Perelman (1958) — Foreword, some editions — 360 copies
Wonderful Town: New York Stories from The New Yorker (2000) — Contributor — 355 copies
Literature: The Human Experience (2006) — Contributor — 341 copies
75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World's Literature (1961) — Contributor — 300 copies
A Treasury of Short Stories (1947) — Contributor — 295 copies
Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time (1942) — Contributor — 289 copies
24 Favorite One Act Plays (1958) — Contributor — 288 copies
A Subtreasury of American Humor (1941) — Contributor — 278 copies
The Treasury of American Short Stories (1981) — Contributor — 269 copies
Short Stories from The New Yorker, 1925 to 1940 (1940) — Contributor — 202 copies
This Is My Best (1942) — Contributor — 188 copies
Erotica: Women's Writing from Sappho to Margaret Atwood (1990) — Contributor — 168 copies
Twenty Grand Short Stories (1967) — Contributor — 161 copies
The Pocket Book of Modern American Short Stories (1943) — Contributor — 146 copies
The Norton Book of Personal Essays (1997) — Contributor — 142 copies
An Anthology of Famous American Stories (1953) — Contributor — 140 copies
Short Stories from the Strand (1992) — Contributor — 139 copies
American Wits: An Anthology of Light Verse (2003) — Contributor — 135 copies
Read With Me (1965) — Contributor — 129 copies
The Persephone Book of Short Stories (2012) — Contributor — 119 copies
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (1996) — Contributor — 119 copies
Saboteur [1942 film] (1942) — Screenwriter — 99 copies
The Best American Humorous Short Stories (1945) — Contributor — 85 copies
The Virago Book of Wicked Verse (1992) — Contributor — 82 copies
Stories from The New Yorker, 1950 to 1960 (1958) — Contributor — 80 copies
Choice Words: Writers on Abortion (2020) — Contributor — 75 copies
The Folio Book of Comic Short Stories (1805) — Contributor — 74 copies
Bedside Book of Famous American Stories (1936) — Contributor — 72 copies
Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium (1656) — Contributor — 71 copies
American Christmas Stories (2021) — Contributor — 62 copies
Desert Island Decameron (1945) — Contributor — 57 copies
The Vintage Book of American Women Writers (2011) — Contributor — 56 copies
The Bedside Tales: A Gay Collection (1945) — Contributor — 46 copies
New Masses; An Anthology of the Rebel Thirties, (1969) — Contributor — 38 copies
The Virago Book of Wanderlust and Dreams (1998) — Contributor — 36 copies
Fifty Best American Short Stories 1915-1965 (1965) — Contributor — 36 copies
The Secret Self: A Century of Short Stories by Women (1995) — Contributor — 34 copies
Mothers and Daughters: An Anthology (1998) — Contributor — 33 copies
An American Omnibus (1933) — Contributor — 31 copies
50 Best American Short Stories 1915-1939 (1939) — Contributor — 28 copies
Tell Me a Story: An Anthology (1957) — Contributor — 23 copies
The Great Book of Humour (1935) — Contributor — 22 copies
Studies in Fiction (1965) — Contributor — 22 copies
Women's Friendships: A Collection of Short Stories (1991) — Contributor — 22 copies
Arthurian Literature by Women: An Anthology (1999) — Contributor — 19 copies
Modern American Short Stories (1945) — Contributor — 15 copies
Nonsenseorship (2006) — Contributor — 13 copies
American Short Stories, Vol.5, The Twentieth Century (1957) — Author, some editions — 11 copies
Tales for Males (1945) — Contributor — 11 copies
The Voice of the Poet: American Wits (2003) — Contributor — 10 copies
World's Great Humorous Stories (1944) — Contributor — 9 copies
Great Tales of City Dwellers (1955) — Contributor — 8 copies
Something's Going On (2005) — Songwriter — 7 copies
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman [1947 film] (1947) — Writer — 7 copies
Modern American Short Stories (1941) — Contributor — 7 copies
Our lives : American labor stories — Contributor — 6 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1958 (1958) — Contributor — 5 copies
Teen-Age Treasury for Girls (1958) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Fireside Treasury of Modern Humor (1963) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Best from Cosmopolitan — Contributor — 4 copies
Eighteen Stories (1965) 4 copies
Tredive mesterfortællinger — Author, some editions — 3 copies
The Bathroom Reader (1946) — Contributor — 3 copies
Wives and Lovers — Contributor — 3 copies
Husbands and Lovers (1949) — Contributor — 2 copies
Bedside Bedlam (Quick Reader 137) (1945) — Contributor — 2 copies
Strange Barriers (1955) — Contributor — 2 copies
The College Short Story Reader (1948) — Contributor — 2 copies
Enjoying Stories (1987) — Contributor — 2 copies
15 Great Stories of Today (1946) — Contributor — 1 copy
The Avon Annual: 18 Great Story of Today (1944) — Contributor — 1 copy
The Best of American Poetry [Audio] (1997) — Contributor — 1 copy
Modern British and American short stories (1982) — Contributor — 1 copy
Schöne Ferien — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

20th century (245) Algonquin (49) Algonquin Round Table (65) American (260) American fiction (49) American literature (385) American poetry (53) anthology (1,238) classic (67) classics (118) collection (192) Dorothy Parker (178) drama (69) essays (515) fiction (1,976) Folio Society (142) food (84) hardcover (43) humor (975) journalism (46) Library of America (96) literature (499) Modern Library (45) New York (67) New Yorker (145) non-fiction (267) own (103) paperback (47) poetry (1,391) read (108) reviews (46) satire (72) short fiction (105) short stories (2,289) short story (123) stories (163) to-read (688) unread (164) USA (78) women (83)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Parker, Dorothy
Legal name
Rothschild, Dorothy (birth name)
Other names
Dot
Dottie
Birthdate
1893-08-22
Date of death
1967-06-07
Burial location
NAACP Headquarters, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Long Branch, New Jersey, USA
Place of death
New York, New York, USA
Cause of death
heart attack
Places of residence
Morristown, New Jersey, USA
Hollywood, California, USA
New York, New York, USA
Education
convent
Occupations
journalist
writer
satirist
drama critic
screenwriter
poet (show all 8)
short story writer
columnist
Relationships
Rothschild, Martin (uncle)
Campbell, Alan (husband)
Hellman, Lillian (friend, executor)
Organizations
Algonquin Round Table
Vogue
Vanity Fair
The New Yorker
Paramount Pictures
Awards and honors
American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature ∙ 1959)
O. Henry Award (1929)
New Jersey Hall of Fame (2014)
Short biography
Dorothy Parker, née Rothschild, was born in the West End section of Long Branch, New Jersey, to J. Henry and Elizabeth Rothschild. Her mother died when she was four years old. She attended a Catholic grammar school and a finishing school in Morristown, NJ, and her formal education ended when she was 14.

In 1914, she sold her first poem to Vanity Fair. At age 22, she took an editorial job at Vogue, and continued to write poems for newspapers and magazines. In 1917, she joined Vanity Fair. That same year, she married Edwin P. Parker, a stockbroker, but they divorced in 1928.

S In 1919, she became a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, the informal gathering of writers who lunched at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. In 1922, Parker published her first short story and over the years, she contributed poetry, fiction and book reviews as the "Constant Reader" columnist.

In 1934, Parker married actor-writer Alan Campbell and the couple relocated to Los Angeles. They divorced in 1947, and remarried in 1950, but their relationship deteriorated.
She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1959 and was a visiting professor at California State College in Los Angeles in 1963. She returned to Manhattan and lived in the Volney Hotel on the Upper East Side for the last 15 years of her life.

Members

Discussions

Reviews

There's a section at the end of poems not collected by Parker herself. She knew what she was doing. Otherwise, excellent.
 
Flagged
Abcdarian | 5 other reviews | May 18, 2024 |
The short stories still exhibit the writing talent of Ms. Parker, ninety years or so on. The dialogue is true to my memory of how contrived a lot of the chit-chat from my parents' days was; she writes so that inflections of speech, and therefore subtle meanings, are recorded faithfully. I loved her savage wit and her sharp awareness of bad form when someone commits a social crime.
Disappointment in love is a common theme. Ms Parker writes from her own experiences at how heart-braking it is.
There is an introduction to this collection written by Brendan Gill. It is worth reading for an overall evaluation of her work.
The copious number of poems, I have not dwelt on, but the final section is a selection of her reviews of books and theatre. These are often sparkling efforts, full of humour and outrage at the good and the bad.
… (more)
 
Flagged
ivanfranko | 16 other reviews | Mar 28, 2024 |
The Viking Press, 1936; first edition, no additional printings indicated; ed cloth boards, NO dust jacket.
 
Flagged
RedeemedRareBooks | Mar 23, 2024 |
Thank god that's over with. I believe that Parker's legacy as an extemporaneous wit far exceeds that of her prose. It is as a poet that she really shines.
 
Flagged
Treebeard_404 | 1 other review | Jan 23, 2024 |

Lists

Awards

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Associated Authors

Marion Meade Introduction, Editor
Lillian Hellman Author, Screenwriter, Lyricist
John Latouche Lyricist
Jack Conway Director
Robert Carson Screenwriter
Arthur Kober Screenwriter
W. Somerset Maugham Introduction, Afterword
Brendan Gill Introduction
Regina Barreca Introduction
Mervyn Horder Introduction
Helen Smithson Illustrator
Max Steiner Composer
D. H. Lawrence Contributor
Sherwood Anderson Contributor
James Joyce Contributor
John Steinbeck Contributor
Nelson Algren Contributor
Robert Lowry Contributor
Leonard Bishop Contributor
William March Contributor
Giovanni Verga Contributor
James L. Collier Contributor
Conrad Aiken Contributor
John Keir Cross Contributor
William Saroyan Contributor
Voltaire Original book
Barbara Cook Performer
Irra Petina Performer
Louis Edmonds Preformer
Max Adrian Performer
Oscar Wilde Original story
Seth Cover artist
Pieke Biermann Translator
Michael Farrell Cover designer
F. P. Adams Introduction
Friederike Roth Translator
Valento Angelo Illustrator
Nancy Tausek Illustrator
John O'Hara Introduction
William Rose Cover artist
Lorna Raver Narrator
Emily Hare Illustrator

Statistics

Works
380
Also by
99
Members
9,655
Popularity
#2,476
Rating
4.1
Reviews
120
ISBNs
225
Languages
10
Favorited
138

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