The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker

by Dorothy Parker

Book Overview

The master of the short story, dramatist, screenwriter, and sharp-tongued critic, provides poems that depict a world haunted by unrequited love, alcohol and men of overbearing will.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141180226
• ISBN13: 9780141180229
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Dorothy Rocks!

It's amazing that these poems,written well over half a century ago,still retain their bite,impact and immediacy. And it's rather inspiring that Ms. Parker,in spite of her personal demons, still managed to produce such an impressive body of work. A very good introduction to her writing,especially if you only know her from the movie made about her,or just as one of several people who hung around a certain hotel in NY,trading quips with other writers. Check this one out,you're in for a treat..!

All the Parker you need

If Margaret Cho could really, really write, and was a young white socialite in the 1920-30s, she'd have been Dorothy Parker. Dorothy is sharp, and she cuts people to the quick, and in no better light than in this Penguin collection. She hates husbands, wives, smart-asses (though she is the preeminent smart-ass woman of her time), summer resorts...you name it, Parker trashes it. The cool thing about her is that she does this with such cosmopolitan flair (small surprise since she wrote for Vogue and Vanity Fair for years) and obvious care (her poems almost always rhyme and subscribe to some traditional structure) that she makes herself almost untouchable to critic. She's good, she knows she's good, and watch out world, here she comes.Not just another pretty muse for a Prince song, and great for classes.

Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye

Excellent - a must have volume of Dorothy Parker's work (as well as her "Complete Stories") - she was truly years ahead of her time. As was prevously stated, her style of writing poetry seems more an attack on the type of poetry that had come to be accepted in her day as "artistic" (for example, Dickinson - seeing life as beautiful, beauty in the everyday, etc.). I identify immediately with her pessimism (and since I'm a male, that ought to tell you something about her ability to communicate) and applaud her for having had the courage to express honest disgust with the habits of men and women instead of trying to always find the silver lining (this volume will definitely tell you why she was one of the Algonquin wits). My favorite poems of hers are too numerous to be listed here, but among them are "Frustration" (this is one you should keep with you at work), "The Red Dress", "Inventory", "Resume", "Indian Summer", "Ode to a Certain Dog", "General Review of the Sex Situation", "Little Words" and "News Item". If you're a fan of dry humor and can appreciate those who excel at criticism, this is a great collection of poetry. If you're not, we don't need you - go buy some Dickinson or Rossetti.

one of the greatest wits

dorothy parker was one of the sharpest wits we've ever seen, and this collection of poems shows her talents at their best. you do get a little tired of her cynicism after a while, but her first two classics, Enough Rope & Sunset Gun both make it worthwhile to read. she is one of the best poets we've had.

A display of sparkling wit and dark introspection

This is a wonderful collection of poems from the "wittiest woman in America". She clearly earns that title here, with her hilarious attacks on anything and everything deserving of ridicule, of which her "Hymns of Hate" are a delightful example. Parker's prose also has a darkly introspective side; one often finds allusions to her painful romantic life and her four suicide attempts (such as perhaps her most famous poem, "Resume"). As her serious poems and her cynically comical ones start off in the same tone, one never knows quite what one is getting into.Parker's poems are as much for the hater of poetry as the aficionado- they are in a sense a direct attack on the affected melodrama that pervades and stereotypes poetry. And if one doesn't find them, like some reviewers, "dark", "beautiful" and "moving", at least one will get a laugh.