A variety of work from one of the most quotable of all twentieth-century authors—the inimitable Dorothy Parker
Author, poet, screenwriter and outstanding member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table, Dorothy Parker was known for her quick wit, keen observations, and remarkable insight into the human condition. Regarded as brilliant, but known to be an alcoholic and often depressed, Parker’s work pushes all buttons at once: humor, anger, love, pity and everything in bewteen…she pulled no punches, writing with pure, unadulterated passion; her work is timeless and as pertinent to today’s society as it was to that of the time she wrote.
Among the gems included in this collection are her first published short story, Such a Pretty Little Picture and her O. Henry Award winner Big Blonde, several other short stories, and, unlike other audio collections, some of her work, including her 1918 New Yorker piece on Tolstoy’s play Redemption and a 1927 Vanity Fair review of Emily Post’s Ettiquette.
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"The actresses performing these Dorothy Parker stories are truly wonderful. Cynthia Nixon reading The Big Blonde, Christine Baranski reading Horsie and Alfre Woodard doing Dusk Before Fireworks are not to missed. "
— Angela (4 out of 5 stars)
" One sided conversations, different, interesting, several sad and funny women. Dorothy Parker 1893-1967 "
— Janet, 4/17/2009Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) is a literary legend famed for her poetry, short stories, criticism, screenplays, and dramas. She was a founding writer of the New Yorker and also wrote for Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Esquire. A key member of the New York literary circle, the Algonquin Round Table, she was widely known as the wittiest woman in America. Not so well known are her political beliefs: she helped unionize Hollywood screenwriters, joined the Communist Party, and worked on behalf of various left-wing causes. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in Hollywood. Her estate was bequeathed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is buried in Baltimore, at the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which became her literary executor following Dr. King’s assassination. Today, four decades after her death, Dorothy Parker remains one of the most quoted writers in the world.
Cynthia Nixon is an actress best known for her role in the popular television series Sex and the City. She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and A Grammy Award. Nixon lives with her wife and three children.