Dorothy Parker

The Poetry & Short Stories of Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was born in 1893. Before she reached the age of fourteen, her mother, stepmother, and father were dead, and her uncle had gone down on the Titanic. She was impoverished and forced to earn her living.

From The Poetry & Short Stories of Dorothy Parker:

“She had gowns of velvet like poured country cream and satin with the lacquer of buttercups and chiffon that spiraled about her like golden smoke. She wore them, and listened in shy surprise to the resulting comparisons to daffodils, and butterflies in the sunshine, and such; but she knew.”

One of her major achievements, in her twenties, was to help found the Round Table, a group of writers famous for their wit, irreverence, and intellectual brilliance, at New York City’s Algonquin Hotel. Many of Parker’s witticisms have become famous, including (regarding a well-known actress): “She ran the whole gamut of emotions from A to B.”

By the time The New Yorker was launched (1925), Parker had a formidable reputation and the magazine was quick to publish her. Her award-winning stories were unlike her light-hearted poetry: dark, angry, and intolerant of pretension.

After many affairs, she finally divorced her stockbroker husband, married another writer, and moved to Hollywood, where they collaborated on numerous screenplays, including A Star Is Born. When investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the fifties and called upon to testify, Parker took the Fifth and was promptly blacklisted.

Later, Parker, a heavy drinker, was depressed and in poor health; she lasted until the age of seventy-three, when she died of a heart attack. She bequeathed her estate to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:

Dorothy Parker—Complete Stories. Dorothy Parker’s talents extended far beyond brash one-liners and clever rhymes. Her stories laid bare the uncertainties and disappointments of ordinary people living ordinary lives.

Champagne Bellini

The only female founding member of the Algonquin Round Table was known for her love of champagne and famously said “Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.”

2 oz. peach puree (or peach juice)

Champagne

Pour the peach juice or peach puree into a Champagne flute. Slowly add the Champagne. Serves 1.