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Dorothy Parker

What Fresh Hell Is This?

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Dorothy Parker

By: Marion Meade
Narrated by: Grace Conlin
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She was known for her outrageous one-liners, her ruthless theater criticism, her clever verses and bittersweet stories. But there was another side of Dorothy Parker: a private life set on a course of destruction through two divorces, a string of painful affairs, a lifelong problem with alcohol, and several suicide attempts.

In this lively, absorbing biography, Marion Meade illuminates both sides of the fascinating Parker: her dark days, as well as her days in the sun at the Algonquin Round Table with Robert Benchley, George Kaufman, and Harold Ross and in Hollywood with S. J. Perelman, William Faulkner, and Lillian Hellman. At the dazzling center of it all, Meade gives us the flamboyant, self-destructive, and brilliant Dorothy Parker.

(P)1995 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Historical Women Celebrity Biography
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Critic reviews

“A compelling and somewhat frightening tale…Meade is also to be applauded for a great feat of detective work.”

(Cosmopolitan)

“An intensely readable biography…Wonderfully full, richly researched.”

(Mademoiselle)

“Meade’s lively biography recounts the unhappy life of the wise-cracking versifier, short story writer and critic...So detailed is Meade’s book that this, one imagines, is the last time a biographer will need to explain why so talented a writer could at the same time be so nasty a human being.”

(Publishers Weekly)

“This well-read, well-written biography caresses your ears like a tautly written novel. Conlin, whose voice is both rich and melodious, reads with great style.”

(AudioFile)
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For me, this book started with the subtitle: ‘What fresh hell is this?’ I was researching the origin of this line & it led me to Dorothy & Meade’s book. There’s something really touching and tough about Parker & her life, her relationships with writing, men, friends, alcohol & politics were both fascinating & frustrating to hear. Well worth the time

Read for research & got really involved

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This biography of Dorothy Parker by Marion Meade is a wonderful work. Parker never wanted a biography written during her life or after her death in the first place and though there is an earlier bio, that one only follows Parkers life (which is interesting enough). Mead?s book combines Parker?s life with her literary output in great detail and is often as funny as the literary lady her herself. If you want to read a very good biography of one of the literary greats of American poetry and short story, look no further. Meade did a lot of research on especially the early and later years of Parker and is a kind of expert on Parkers work, she did the introduction of The Portable Dorothy Parker and also wrote Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin (three writers of the Jazz Age) and contributed to A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York, a wonderful photo book and a guide for all Parker fans.

Unfortunately the audio book doesn?t really live up to this. The reader has no feeling or instinct for the wit and irony of both Dorothy Parker and Marion Meade and reads so businesslike she could be reading the minutes of some boring board meeting. Second, nobody at Audible took the trouble to edit the original recording, so frequently the reading is interrupted by ?You have reached the end of this cassette (?!), please continue on the other side?. Very sloppy of Audible and very irritating during a 17 hour read of a marvellous biography.

So 5 stars for the book and 1 star for the recording. A poor job and a missed opportunity.

Great biography, poorly executed!

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An insightful account of a type of personality that just doesn’t seem to exist anymore - warts and all. I found this book informative and exposing but I still feel I have more to learn about the kind of person Parker was. This is due to Parker, not the author.

Fascinating

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