a book
Selected Stories
Dorothy Parker · 1995
Product Description
A collection of short stories focuses on early twentieth-century American social customs.
From Library Journal
Parker (1893-1967) wrote stories with a tough, unsentimental, acerbic tone that satirized the social condition that leaves women economically dependent on men. Targeting the upper class and their pretensions, she tells of husbands and wives with nothing to say to each other and lives with no serious purpose except to attend the next party. This collection includes seven of her better-known works, including "Big Blonde," an account of a woman's decline into alcoholism and despair that netted Parker the O. Henry Award in 1929. Seen from a 1990s feminist perspective, Parker's work seems a bit dated, her women so dependent and superficial, her men so despicable. Yet, besides bearing witness to how far gender relations have progressed, the stories can be admired for their poignancy, wit, and clever dialog. Elaine Stritch reads convincingly, especially when portraying upper-class matrons. The tape quality is excellent. Recommended for general collections.?Nancy Paul, Brandon P.L., Wis.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
The acknowledged leader of the famous "Algonquin Round Table", as well as a popular writer for The New Yorker magazine, Dorothy Parker's quips and light verse have become embedded in the American literary landscape. These selected stories provide the chance to enjoy an intimacy with her sharp eye for detail, playful prose, and flawless dialogue, as well as draw on her insight into the social and emotional realities of life. (Abridged, 3 hours on 2 cassettes). --
Midwest Book Review
From AudioFile
Elaine Stritch--TV's first Alice Cramden; show-stopping, hard-living Manhattanite in Sondheim's company; Emmy winner; droll BBC comedienne--seems an ideal interpreter of these wry, witty Parker tales. Indeed, one hears understanding, relish, irony and drama in her distinctive whiskey voice. She lacks the light touch and impeccable timing of Shirley Booth's classic Parker recordings. Booth emphasized humor; Stritch, the poignance underlying the author's veneer of glib urbanity. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
A collection of short stories focuses on early twentieth-century American social customs.
From Library Journal
Parker (1893-1967) wrote stories with a tough, unsentimental, acerbic tone that satirized the social condition that leaves women economically dependent on men. Targeting the upper class and their pretensions, she tells of husbands and wives with nothing to say to each other and lives with no serious purpose except to attend the next party. This collection includes seven of her better-known works, including "Big Blonde," an account of a woman's decline into alcoholism and despair that netted Parker the O. Henry Award in 1929. Seen from a 1990s feminist perspective, Parker's work seems a bit dated, her women so dependent and superficial, her men so despicable. Yet, besides bearing witness to how far gender relations have progressed, the stories can be admired for their poignancy, wit, and clever dialog. Elaine Stritch reads convincingly, especially when portraying upper-class matrons. The tape quality is excellent. Recommended for general collections.?Nancy Paul, Brandon P.L., Wis.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
The acknowledged leader of the famous "Algonquin Round Table", as well as a popular writer for The New Yorker magazine, Dorothy Parker's quips and light verse have become embedded in the American literary landscape. These selected stories provide the chance to enjoy an intimacy with her sharp eye for detail, playful prose, and flawless dialogue, as well as draw on her insight into the social and emotional realities of life. (Abridged, 3 hours on 2 cassettes). --
Midwest Book Review
From AudioFile
Elaine Stritch--TV's first Alice Cramden; show-stopping, hard-living Manhattanite in Sondheim's company; Emmy winner; droll BBC comedienne--seems an ideal interpreter of these wry, witty Parker tales. Indeed, one hears understanding, relish, irony and drama in her distinctive whiskey voice. She lacks the light touch and impeccable timing of Shirley Booth's classic Parker recordings. Booth emphasized humor; Stritch, the poignance underlying the author's veneer of glib urbanity. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
recommended by 1 person
sourced from public statements
David Sedaris
“I like an audiobook. Quite often in an audiobook someone will read a story, especially the last line of a story, and I’ll think, ‘That’s not how it goes at all. Don’t you know anything?’ But Elaine Stritch, who’s a Broadway actress, recorded Dorothy Parker stories and she understood those stories. There’s nothing I would change. Not a thing in those recordings. They’re masterful. They never released them on CD or digital. They’re just on tapes and that’s why I’ll never get rid of my tape player.”↗