Review by Booklist Review
The Dorothy Parker resurrection continues. First came the Complete Stories [BKL S 15 95], and now more than 120 poems that never made it into any of Parker's poetry books. Editor Stuart Silverstein theorizes that Parker held back many of these "breezier" and "less self-conscious" poems because they didn't fit the image she attempted to fashion for herself as a tough, cynical writer, and, indeed, these are either silly or naughty. We've lost our taste for light verse, but it was once a staple of popular American literature, and its influence on Parker is happily evident. Who can resist her satirical pastorals, including "The Passionate Freudian to His Love," which concludes: "Where a Freud in need is a Freud indeed, / We'll be always Jung together." Parker also writes with irreverence about Hollywood, literature, and society, winding herself up, ultimately, to a viciously funny fury in her "Hate Verses," which take on everyone from husbands and wives to bohemians and bores. Viva Mrs. Parker! --Donna Seaman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
These poems are not "lost" in the way that we have come to expect from TV specials that celebrate never-seen episodes of, say, The Honeymooners. Rather, as Silverstein points out, these 122 poems appeared in popular magazines and newspapers of 1915-1938 yet have not previously been collected between hard covers. This does not bode well, nor does Silverstein, a journalist, attempt to build our hopeshis very lengthy introduction hits hard on Parker's alcoholism. But to engage the reader, he offers, via 113 footnotes, scores of "Dottie's" best witticisms. (The book's title is her response to a bartender's query: "What are you having?"). He succinctly observes that Parker's problem was a lack of artistic vision: "She needed ideas, not craft, and she failed." Indeed, this collection of light verse is built basically on two blunt ideas, which fortunately are not without their entertainment value: romance bad ("The most wonderful thing/ Is how well I get on without you"); money good ("Immortality ask I not/ All I want is a lot of jack"). (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In case you're in the mood for Parker's corrosive wit, here's a sampling of 100 poems that have previously been uncollected. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
