UNTITLED BIRTHDAY LAMENT, CIRCA 1927

Time doth flit.
Oh, shit!

I have always loved any Dorothy Parker that I have come across in anthologies, but I have never taken the time to search her out specifically until recently. The editor of this collection is similarly enamored, which made for a delightful introduction of Parker's life and background.

She seemed to take pleasure in writing about the opposite sex, generally characterizing males as a bunch of pesky, untrustworthy creatures put on earth to bring disorder into the lives of women. Her other favorite subject was death: wishing for it, obsessing about it, hurrying along its appearance.

#relatable

This book contains three parts - the original portable that was arranged by Mrs. Parker herself, a selection of other writings presumably chosen by Meade and then finally a sampler that pulls several magazine articles as well as letters to friends and other authors that have been made public. Voyeur that I am, I absolutely love reading famous people's private letters.

Dorothy Parker was a complicated woman, both self-deprecating and proud, who lived perhaps longer than she would have liked. There was never a part of this collection that I skimmed or set down for something else; it's a wonderful example of why she appeals to so many people.