Literary Travel Book Review: A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York, by Kevin Fitzpatrick

Kevin Fitzpatrick has recreated for us the jazz and bootleg New York of the legendary grand dame of the 1920’s, Dorothy Parker, and her life, into the
political 1950’s.

Readers will enjoy the many quotes in this book, from zany to sad: “…as only New Yorkers know, if you can get through the twilight, you’ll live through the night.”

Much of her humor relies on satire, for which most remember her…”My life is like a picture gallery,/With a few pictures turned discreetly to the wall.”

She had three books of collected verse that would delight lovers of poetry.

The photos are exceptional and many and will appeal to those interested in New York’s architectural history. There is even a numbered map of events in Dorothy’s life in the city and a trip through the Theater District, past and present. Almost every page contains photos of Dorothy and her friends, the members of the famous Round Table, and the quintessential Dorothy toward the end of her life, posing with her dog, Misty. Yes, she was an animal lover, too.

On June 7, 1967 Dorothy Parker, by then very political, died at her apartment at the Volney Hotel. She left her estate to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is something of interest for most readers in Mr. Fitzpatrick’s book of memory - clever words, drawings, photos, all deliciously clothed in the exciting mystique of Ms. Parker’s New York, those years forever gone by.

Dorothy

Words leap tall buildings

Swim under man hole covers

Vie for all that jazz

Voluble as the blazing skyline

The greedy essence

Of life in the city

She writes.

Dogs are walked

Lips plumped

Taxis hired

Long beads worn

Click-clack on mezzanine

Broadway dancing

Dorothy Parker’s New York
 

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  nonameharbor is the Poetry Editor for Wandering Educators.