Complete Stories

Dorothy Parker's short stories are arranged chronologically in this collected works edition. This is a bit of a shame, because her earliest stories from 1923 were terribly misanthropic. Incisive and darkly humorous, yes, but just filled with contempt for people in general.

I was not in the right mood to read about horrible people being awful to each other or not communicating their needs, no matter how wittily or insightfully recounted, so I dragged through the first nine (stopping at "Little Curtis"), then put off the rest until my library borrow reached the renewal limit, at which point I noted the three stories listed on the back as Parker's most renowned and/or best, and attempted to tackle them in a single evening. These were from show more later on, I believe - and while maintaining the same skill in description and airing of personal foibles, weren't nearly so misanthropic. To be fair, "Big Blonde" was still awfully depressing with its depiction of, well, depression and alcoholism and suicide, but it has a heart and care for the central character in ways that the earlier stories I'd tried didn't. Likewise, "The Lovely Leave" was frustrating with the lack of communication and failure to connect between the characters like in "Too Bad", but it lacks the sense of inevitable doom.

Of the stories I read, I most enjoyed "The Standard of Living". There's a cynicism to it and sharpness in life disappointments, but it has a cosier almost hopeful feel rather than misanthropic, which was more the kind of thing I was in the mood to read. Probably, at a different time, I would enjoy the other stories more, but for now, I don't want to read about miserable selfish lonely people.

I am glad I tried these stories, and I wouldn't reject anything by Dorothy Parker if recommended to me in the future. There are still so many of her short stories I didn't touch, after all. show less

Dorothy Parker is wonderful writer and I really enjoyed these stories but every once in a while I wanted just a tiny speck of hope.

This is an excellent collection of Dorothy Parker's many short stories. It also includes a number of sketches she wrote describing people in an apartment building or people at a party. Dorothy Parker had an amazing ability to characterize people in just a few paragraphs. Her with is also second to none.

Reading all her short stories in the order that they were published really allowed me to see how her thinking, especially on social issues, developed over the years. Her sketches were a pleasant surprise since I had not been familiar with them.

collected short stories and sketches orig. published 1920-1958

Though Parker is well known for her sharp witticisms, as with most short story collections, some of these are better than others. Many can be reduced to "woman and man having a quarrel" or "2 people not getting along very well" but there is a bit of social commentary. I'm used to reading things straight through so have had to adjust to reading one story or maybe two at a time, otherwise you risk getting overly tired of a parade of similarly complaining characters. I did end up skimming through/skipping a handful of these.
My favorite story was "The Garter" (1928); the later stories tended to show more skill than the earliest ones.

This was an interesting collection. Some of the stories, especially mid-carreer, really stand out and shine yet the early ones seemed a little weak. The later ones I couldn't quite get into. Nevertheless, it was still an intriguing read.

3 stars.

I didn't know much about Parker before reading this. I was surprised that it contained non-humourous pieces, and further suprised that I enjoyed those much more.

A great collection of stories by Dorothy Parker. She wrote about such sad people, though. I could only read a few at a time because they were SO depressing. Unfortunately, they were true to life--I think I know some of the people she wrote about!