The Incomplete Dorothy Parker Reading Guide

Click here to readthe Kirkus Review

If your loved ones were thoughtful enough to give you bookstore gift cards this Christmas/Hanukkah/secular holiday, you may be thinking of expanding your Dorothy Parker library. Naturally, I hope that includes pre-ordering my new novel,  Dorothy Parker Drank Here (available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and IndieBound) or catching up on my last one, Farewell, Dorothy Parker (signed copies still available). But I'd like to present a non-comprehensive to guide to other books you should consider.


DOROTHY HERSELF
If you don't yet have a copy of The Portable Dorothy Parker, don't waste another second. This is a must-have collection of her poetry, stories, essays and reviews.
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Books-A-Million • IndieBound

BIOGRAPHY
Marion Meade's fascinating Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This is simply the best and most complete account of the great wit's life.
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Books-A-Million • IndieBound

This year Meade also published two short ebooks that are must-reads for the true Dorothy Parker fan. They are The Last Days of Dorothy Parker: The Extraordinary Lives of Dorothy Parker and Lillian Hellman and How Death Can Be Hell on Friendship and Alpine Giggle Week: How Dorothy Parker Set Out to Write the Great American Novel and Ended Up in a TB Colony Atop an Alpine Peak.

DRINKING
If no one thought to give you a copy of Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide as  gift,

buy it for yourself. It's a smart and charming edition by Dorothy Parker Society president Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Books-A-Million • IndieBound

MORE FROM THE DOROTHY PARKER SOCIETY
Parker expert Kevin Fitzpatrick also wrote the entertaining and info-packed A Journey Into Dorothy Parker's New York and compiled her theater reviews into Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway, 1918-1923. His forthcoming The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide also looks like a winner.

MYSTERY
Author J.J. Murphy wrote a beloved Algonquin Round Table Mystery series in which Dorothy Parker is a prominent figure.
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Books-A-Million • IndieBound

Of course, there are dozens more, including many Algonquin Round Table themed books. Please feel free to share your favorites in the comments.

Kirkus!

Love from Kirkus Reviews? I think this calls for a martini. Maybe two!

The ghost of Dorothy Parker meddles with the lives of mortals in this sequel from Meister (Farewell, Dorothy Parker, 2013). 

In the heyday of her career, Parker signed a guestbook that promised eternity. Against all odds, the claim turned out to be true, and now she haunts the famed Algonquin, greeting her friends after their deaths. They all go on to the afterlife, but not Dorothy. She’d much rather stay right there at the bar—but things are starting to get lonely. That’s where Ted Shriver comes in. A writer whose career plummeted after a plagiarism scandal, Ted is now dying of a brain tumor. If only Dorothy can convince him to sign the guestbook, she might just have some company. But things get a bit more complicated than she imagined. Norah Wolfe, an associate producer for a struggling television show, has her own reasons for wanting to talk to Ted. Neither of them will be able to get through to him unless they can help him tie up some loose ends…and maybe clear his name in the process. Meister’s Dorothy Parker is just as sharp, witty and pleasantly mean as fans would expect. Her humanity shines through, though, along with her humor. Her obvious loneliness, along with the dilemmas Ted and Norah face, make this a surprisingly emotional novel. 

Not even death can keep Dorothy Parker down in this sad and funny story.