Start gifting
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop the sale
In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Donāt miss outāpurchases support your local bookstore!
Shop nowSelected Readings from The Portable Dorothy Parker
This audiobook uses AI narration.
Weāre taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreWhen it comes to expressing the pleasure and pain of being just a touch too smart to be happy, Dorothy Parker is still the champion, after all these years. Along with Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and the rest of the Algonquin Round Table, she dominated American popular literature in the 1920s and 1930s.
These unabridged selections of more than thirty short stories and poems is essential for any Parker fan and an excellent way for new readers to make the acquaintance of one of the twentieth century's most quotable authors, whose memorable lines include: "She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B," "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force," and "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses." Parker's ability to lay bare the follies, myths, and hypocrisies of her characters in such a wickedly funnyāsometimes sadāmanner is unmatched, and her attention to language, quirks, and the other little details of life make her stories come vividly to life.
Dorothy ParkerĀ (1893ā1967) is a literary legend famed for her poetry, short stories, criticism, screenplays, and dramas. She was a founding writer of theĀ New YorkerĀ and also wrote forĀ Vogue, Vanity Fair, andĀ Esquire. A key member of the New York literary circle, the Algonquin Round Table, she was widely known as the wittiest woman in America. Not so well known are her political beliefs: she helped unionize Hollywood screenwriters, joined the Communist Party, and worked on behalf of various left-wing causes. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in Hollywood. Her estate was bequeathed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is buried in Baltimore, at the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which became her literary executor following Dr. Kingās assassination. Today, four decades after her death, Dorothy Parker remains one of the most quoted writers in the world.
Lorna Raver, named one of AudioFile magazineās Best Voices of the Year, has received numerous Audie nominations and AudioFile Earphones Awards. An experienced stage actress, she has also guest-starred on many top television series and starred in director Sam Raimiās filmĀ Drag Me to Hell. Among her many Blackstone titles areĀ The Age of Innocence, Up from Orchard Street, The Lodger, Selected Readings from the Portable Dorothy Parker, and Diamond Ruby.
Reviews
āMrs. Parker has an eye for people, an ear for language, and a feeling for the little things of life that are so immensely a part of the process of living.ā
“If ever a book cried out for audio, this is it. Dorothy Parker, one of the wittiest women of the twentieth century, decimated the hypocrisies of her time with the razor-sharp, prolific (if not always pithy) selections of verse, short stories, criticism, song lyrics, and screenplays…The collection, graced by Raver’s luminous reading, makes for wonderful listening.”
“Dorothy Parker doesn’t just reveal the hypocrisies, vanities, myths, and foibles of her characters, she skewers them—in a style that is merciless, wickedly funny, and often sad.”
“Raver performs each [selection] brilliantly with a new voice and a fresh perspective.”
Expand reviews