Dorothy Parker’s New York

Among my favorite surprises is taking in the mail and discovering someone sent me a book out of the blue. The other day it was a review copy of Dorothy Parker’s New York by Kevin Fitzpatrick, which is now in its third edition. I’m pretty sure it was the only book of Fitzpatrick’s I didn’t already own, so it was especially welcome. As you may know, among many other things, Kevin is the founder and boss of The Dorothy Parker Society, and the man who brought Dorothy’s remains to their present resting place in New York. A new account of the latter odyssey is one of the elements warranting the new edition.

It is a wonderful book, the best kind, the sort that will give booksellers conniptions about what section to shelve it in. It’s essentially a guidebook to New York locations associated with Dorothy Parker, but full of her own writings, as well as Fitzpatrick’s historical and biographical commentary. So you see, you could with justification shelve it in half a dozen different sections of the bookstore. (That’s kind of an antique problem now I guess, since most people order things online).

The book’s official publication date is August 1, but pre-orders are being taken now. Why post this today? It’s Juneteenth. That wasn’t a holiday in Parker’s time, but she certainly would have celebrated it today. It’s not well known but when she died Dorothy Parker donated her entire fortune to the NAACP.