A review by ori_gina_lity
The Collected Poetry of Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker

4.0

Parker’s wit is as fresh and funny as the day she wrote it. The Collected Poetry includes poems from 4 collections spanning 1926-1936, my favorite being Enough Rope. Her poems, mostly about the woes of life, being suicidal, in love out of love, frustrated by herself and by men, are snappy and offer quick-minded wit. Occasionally she sounds like a broken record, and a bit shallow but her style is so sassy, of the time but still current and still easy to relate to. She gets down on herself, feels empowered about being herself, then gets down on herself again for not being something she isn’t. It’s a constant struggle that young women face and I think reading her work offers a bit of solace and a good laugh for those facing similar struggles.

There are some real winners in this book, but some poems do fall short. Observation, Resume, On Being a Woman, and Bric-A-Brac were a few of my favorites. Overall a fun read and I’m glad to have her work in my back pocket for a change of pace. 4/5 stars.