NOT MUCH FUN: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker - Hardcover

Dorothy Parker

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684818558 ISBN 13: 9780684818559

Publisher: Scribner, 1996

Synopsis

A collection of light verse, gathered from works originally published in magazines between 1915 and 1938, pokes fun at failed romances, money problems, literary life, the movies, and other aspects of the times

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Reviews

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 hopes?his 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").
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In case you're in the mood for Parker's corrosive wit, here's a sampling of 100 poems that have previously been uncollected.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Dorothy Parker resurrection continues. First came the Complete Stories , 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

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684818558
• ISBN 13: 9780684818559
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256