Dorothy Parker Summary

Parker, Dorothy (1893-1967) Dorothy Parker was the leading light and most scathing wit of the notorious "Algonquin Round Table"—a collection of literary notables who defined the i... Read more

Dorothy Rothschild Parker (1893-1967), American humorist, was known for her biting prose and verse satires. Numerous critics expressed admiration for her unique talent.Born in New Jersey to Scottish-J... Read more

Dorothy Parker is known today for her three volumes of verse, Enough Rope (1926), Sunset Gun (1928), and Death and Taxes (1931)--not serious "poetry," she claimed--and two collections of well-wrought ... Read more

Wilson compares and contrasts Parker's poetry to that of her contemporaries, noting in particular those elements which make her work distinctive. Mrs. Dorothy Parker began her poetic career ... Read more

In this review, Redlich supports Parker's poetry for its unembellished deceptions of “the vanity of human wishes.” Miss Parker's short stories are a perennial delight, a... Read more

Here, Kinney provides a discussion concerning Parker's use of meter and verbal simplicity to better satirize her view of society. Light Verse: “counting Up, Exultingly” When th... Read more

The critic appraises Parker's poetry, especially her timely treatments of established forms. In an earlier age Dorothy Parker's lyric effusions would have been classified as society v... Read more

Benét reviews Sunset Gun, pointing out that Parker's writing, like her personality, is difficult to categorize. Is [Sunset Gun] as good as Enough Rope? Yes. And that might constitute ... Read more

Canby believes that the techniques Parker uses in Death and Taxes produce “poetry deserving high praise.” The times are choked and cluttered with disillusion—a sticky disillusi... Read more

Rosenberg focuses on Death and Taxes with respect to sentiment, wit, and poetic quality. Since Mrs. Parker is too often satisfied with such readymade images as “my narrow bed” for a g... Read more

In the following essay, Horder provides an appreciation of Parker's literary contributions. Transatlantic centenaries are not much observed, or even noticed on this side, and it comes as som... Read more

In the following essay, Johnson surveys the critical reaction to Parker's oeuvre and examines her unique use of repetition in her work. Somehow it has always been rather easy to dismiss Doro... Read more

In the following essay, Pollak traces the influence of Jonathan Swift on Parker's review essay “The Professor Goes in for Sweetness and Light.” To be happy one must be (a) well... Read more

In the following essay, Melzer offers a feminist perspective on Parker's work. It is astonishing that Dorothy Parker's universe remains essentially unexplored as serious literature ab... Read more

In the following essay, Pettit regards Parker's short fiction as part of the sentimental tradition. If Dorothy Parker's twentieth-century poetry seems at times enmeshed in nineteenth-... Read more

Critical Essay by Arthur Voss Of the writers of the 1920's and 1930's who produced stories on the order of those of Ring Lardner, only [Dorothy Parker] came close to matching his tellin... Read more

Critical Essay by Arthur F. Kinney Throughout her life, Dorothy Parker was quick to sympathize with those who suffered or were indentured—those she could pity because of misfortune in politics... Read more