Farewell, Dorothy Parker

I really enjoyed this novel for many reasons. I wanted to give it 4.5 stars; either the program wouldn't let me, or I'm as lost in the modern world as Parker occasionally gets lost in this book, often with ensuing hilarity. High praise goes to Ellen Meister for masterfully conjuring Dorothy Parker's ghost back to life and have her "live" in the present day; for Meister to pull it off this well, she must have done serious research to get Parker just right.I must admit a bias of mine for this review's purposes: I am a big Dorothy Parker fan. "The diminutive Mrs. Parker," as some referred to her as (hopefully not while she was within earshot), stood less than 5 feet tall, but she was as towering a presence as the city of New York had at that time. People in entertainment feared Parker because she could cut a person, a whole production of a play, or a movie down for good with a sentence from her pen. She was one of the founding members of The New Yorker magazine, a checkered character for sure, but also one who donated her whole estate to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement when she died. A true progressive for her time and an American wit who should be celebrated for all time.Parker's second-coming in this book is a welcome respite and reprieve from the current generation's notion of wit. Unfortunately, now "witty' is too often applied to a vulgar comment on a social media website. In some cases, kids in high schools will vote the classmate who pulled his pants down the most, broke wind the most, or was otherwise vulgar as that class's "Wittiest" person. Vulgarity without purpose or aim is not wit. Was Dorothy Parker vulgar? Oh yes, for sure, another treat in this book. But when she wrote, she honed that vulgarity and spritely spirit into a civilized tone that still would have you laughing on the floor, and if you were her target, would leave you crying on the floor. Wit is civilized incivility with a generous helping of style. Does that mean that vulgarity isn't funny? No, but it's also not wit.Meister uses an ingenious plot device to get Parker to be reborn and aid an intelligent woman (Violet Epps) whose occupation is a movie critic, but the shrinking Violet also suffers from paralyzing social anxiety and other personal doubts about herself. Dorothy turns out to be the perfect cure for those maladies, even if a lot of kicking, drinking, and screaming were needed parts of the process. Parker's presence in the movie critic's life makes her more confident, a person capable of facing down fears- in some cases, very serious fears like the custody battle for her orphaned niece. The themes of women's self-confidence, strength in adversity, and a friendship across the boundaries of time were the highpoints of this novel.Only a few minor quibbles, but ones that are easily passed over. But just as Parker would never pass on a drink, as such, I cannot pass on mentioning the quibbles to report as truthfully as possible for this review. I felt that some of subplots didn't work that well, the ending was a bit predictable, and some of Violet's love interests throughout the book weren't all needed to make the point of her insecurity with men. But they were great occasions for Parker to let loose.These are extremely minor complaints. If you want a really good read with some soul and Parker's dazzling and unrepentant wit, you should definitely read this book. If you are thinking more of a beach read that claims to be well-researched, incisive, and important, I understand that Dan Brown has recently published a new book.

Ellen Meister writes a story that makes you care about the characters. Looking forward to enjoying more of her books in the future.

"That's exactly what I can't abide about the modern world. You people don't believe in personal responsibility...everywhere you turn, there's a headshrinker on a mission to convince guilty souls they're not to blame for their own awful behavior."That isn't an actual Dorothy Parker quote, but it's one of the many inventive, delightful lines she speaks in Farewell, Dorothy Parker, skillfully written by author Ellen Meister.Oh, the book contains many brilliant bona fide Parker tidbits ("His ignorance was an Empire State Building of ignorance. You had to admire it for its size"), but what Meister has done in this poignant yet laugh out loud novel is introduce Mrs. Parker to a whole new audience while weaving the same into a lovely tale of self-discovery, love, and a touch of history."The period that followed the end of World War I was one of gaiety and optimism, and it sparked a new era of creativity in American culture. Surely one of the most profound -- and outrageous -- influences on the times was the group of a dozen or so tastemakers who lunched together at New York City's Algonquin Hotel. For more than a decade they met daily and came to be known as the Algonquin Round Table. With members such as writers Dorothy Parker, Harold Ross (founder of THE NEW YORKER) and Robert Benchley; columnists Franklin Pierce Adams and Heywood Broun, and Broun's wife Ruth Hale; critic Alexander Woollcott; comedian Harpo Marx; and playwrights George S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, Edna Ferber, and Robert Sherwood, the Round Table embodied an era and changed forever the face of American humor."But rather than give us a straight biographical treatment, Farewell Dorothy Parker allows us to suspend our belief that her ghost still roams New York City in 2013, and accidentally enters the life of Violet Epps, a highly intelligent film critic who still suffers the traumas of an unhappy incident in childhood which has rendered her unable to be the same person in real life that she is behind a computer monitor. Worse, this personality defect has placed her in what would seem to be at the losing end of a custody battle involving her adored teenaged niece, Delaney, orphaned when Violet's sister and brother-in-law are tragically killed in an automobile accident.And what would a novel be without a steamy love interest? Here, Meister delivers again, spinning this relationship like a master craftswoman among scenes where Violet has fascinating chats with Mrs. Parker (as Dorothy insists on being called), upheaval at work with the dreaded young back-stabbing competitor without a conscience, and her sweet, funny niece, who longs to be reunited with her Aunt. It is gratifying to read Delaney's snappy dialogue in this novel as she is a match for Mrs. Parker...charming, always playing on words - a perfect character in a perfect book.I cannot recommend this novel enough. Highbrow Dorothy Parker fans needn't be disgruntled. This is a novel, a work of fiction, but it has all of the wit and grace of Dorothy Parker herself and I am sure she would have grinned from ear to ear and loved every last word while sipping her ever present gin and tonic. Truth. You need to read this book. It isn't often something this special comes around.

On the page, acclaimed movie critic Violet Epps is famous for her ability to channel her inner Dorothy Parker, the famous Algonquin Roundtable founder, poet, wit and wisecracker of the 1920s. But, in person, Violet's a mere Miz Milquetoast.The story opens as our Shrinking Violet finds herself with two personal-life dilemmas that are crying out for access to her professional Parker personna. Most urgent is her need to dump her controlling boyfriend Carl, who's announced he's moving in with her this weekend and isn't taking "no" for an answer. Even more important is the need to regain custody of her recently orphaned and miserably unhappy 13-year-old niece Delaney, from the kid's loathsome paternal grandparents.Violet decides to tackle the Carl problem by inviting him to lunch at the Algonquin, with the admittedly silly hope that maybe something about the atmosphere of Parker's longtime hangout might somehow give her the gumption to get rid of the jerk.A look into the Algonquin's old guest book gives Violet what she was hoping for ...and a good bit more. Little did she know that secretly "borrowing" that book and taking it home with her would summon up Parker every time she opens it. Seems poor dear Dorothy has been hiding out inside that book lo these many years, longing for gin and fearful that "going to the light" might send her back into the arms of the family that made her childhood so miserable and unloved. She sees her mission here as teaching Violet how to bring out her inner Dorothy at will.And so the tale begins. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars.

Witty and entertaining plus a good story

Witty and enjoyable and so pleased to see a resurgence of interest in a great woman - long may it continue

I quite liked the book. Despite the predictability of the story in parts it was a good and fast read with a fantastic touch of Mrs. Parker. A nice touch is that all paperbacks of this edition come signed by the author!

I bit more expensive than I would have expected.