Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? (76 page)

183 DOROTHY PERSUADED A NEWSPAPER REPORTER: Upton Sinclair,
Boston
, vol. 2, Albert and Charles Boni, 1928, pp. 637, 648-50.

183 THEY WERE WATCHING: Ibid., p. 650.

184 THOSE PEOPLE AT THE ROUND TABLE: Richard Lamparski taped interview with Dorothy Parker.

185 THESE ADORING BUSINESSES: Gardner Jackson taped interview, Columbia University Oral History Research Office.

185 AS JACKSON REMEMBERED IT: Ibid.

185 NO FEATURES: Sinclair, p. 743.

186 MY HEART AND SOUL: Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker
, December 10, 1927, p. 122.

187 FINALLY, AS AN INDIGNANT LOVETT: Gaines, p. 235.

187 THERE WAS A WONDERFUL: Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker,
January 14, 1928, p. 69.

187 GARRETT WAS THE SAME AGE: Parker, “Dusk Before Fireworks,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 135; “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker,
January 14, 1928, p. 69.

187 DOROTHY BROKE OFF: Parker, “Dusk Before Fireworks,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 135.

188 “LADY,” DOROTHY WAS DYING: Parker, “Recent Books,”
The New Yorker,
October 15, 1927, p. 105;
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 452.

188 CRUDE IS THE NAME: Ibid., October 22, 1927, p. 98;
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 455.

188 MARGOT ASQUITH’S LATEST BOOK: lbid.

188 CONFRONTED WITH A WORK: Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker
, November 5, 1927, p. 90;
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 461. Beginning with the October 29, 1927, issue, the name of the column was changed from “Recent Books” to “Reading and Writing.”

188 AND IT IS THAT WORD: Ibid., October 20, 1928, p. 98;
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 517.

189 THE WHISTLES MEANT: Ibid., March 31, 1928, p. 97.

189 MOST OF THE TIME: Parker, “You Were Perfectly Fine,”
The New Yorker
, February 23, 1929, p. 17;
The Portable Dorothy Parker,
p. 151.

190 SHE ADORED “HIS BOYISHNESS” : Dorothy Parker letter to Robert Benchley, November 7, 1929.

190 LATER, TRYING TO REMEMBER: Ibid.

190 SHE HAD A FRIEND: Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker
, April 7, 1928, p. 106;
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 508.

190 SHE WOULD SIT : Parker, “A Telephone Call,”
The Bookman,
January 1928, p. 501,
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 119.

191 SUNK I AM: Parker, “Reading and Writing.”
The New Yorker
, January 7, 1928, p. 77.

191 IT WAS A SCREAMING MATCH: Author’s interview with Rebecca Bernstien.

J91 A DIFFERENT CAUSE:
Hartford Cou. rant,
January 8, 1933, p. 6.

192 THE OTHER WAS: Ibid.

192 GILMAN RECALLS: Author’s interview with Mildred Gilman Wohlforth.

192 THAT SPRING: Parker, “Just a Little One,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 241.

192 BONYAND LIVERLIGHT: In its fall 1928 catalogue, Boni and Liveright announced the October publication of
The Sexes
, described as a collection of satirical prose pieces that had appeared in
Life, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair
. This book did not materialize.

192 REVIEWS WERE: William Rose Benét, “New Moon Madness,”
Saturday Review
, June 9, 1928, p. 943.

193 THE SUN’S GONE DIM: Parker, “Two-Volume Novel,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 238.

193 SHE IS QUITE GIVEN: Robert Benchley letter to Mildred Gilman, May 25, 1928.

194 ALLEN SAALBURG REMEMBERED: Author’s interview with Allen Saalburg.

194 INSTEAD OF REPORTING: Parker, “Reading and Writing,” The New Yorker, March 24, 1928, p. 93;
The Portable Dorothy
Parker,
p. 504.

194 I FOUND HER: Woollcott, “Our Mrs. Parker,” p. 186.

195 NO
RICH
PEOPLE: Keats, p. 159. Dorothy repaid the loan shortly before John Gilbert’s death in 1936. He acknowledged the payment with a telegram,
THANK
YOU
MISS
FINLAND, a reference to the only country in Europe that repaid its World War I debt to the United States.

195 HELL,
WHILE
I’M UP: Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker
, August 25, 1928, p. 60.

196 F.P.A.S’S REACTION: Adams, p. 866.

196 I DON’T SEE: Edmund Wilson, The
Thirties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period
, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980, p. 361.

196 SHE NEVER LEARNED: Parker, “Reading And Writing,”
The New Yorker
, December 31, 1927, p. 51.

196
A
MOTION PICTURE THEATER: Ibid., November 26, 1927, p. 104.

197 SHE
ALSO
ENJOYED: Parker, “Out of the Silence,”
The New Yorker
, September 1, 1928, p. 28.

197 SHE REMEMBERED THINKING: Parker, “To Richard—with Love,”
The Screen Guild’s Magazine
,
May 1936,
p.
8.

197 A TELEGRAM ARRIVED: John Gilbert telegram to Dorothy Parker, October 19, 1928.

197 IT
ALWAYS
TAKES:
Brooklyn Eagle
, November 18, 1928.

197 THE JOB GOT OFF:
New York Telegraph
, January 28, 1929.

197 NOW LET’S SEE: Robert Benchley letter to Gertrude Benchley, December 7, 1928, Mugar Library.

197 IT WAS A LOVELY OFFICE: Dorothy Parker speech, “Hollywood, the Land I Won’t Return To,”
Seven Arts
, No.3, 1955, p.130.

198 A NEWSPAPER REPORTED: New
Haven Register
, January 4, 1929.

198 SHE HOPED THAT: Dorothy Parker letter to Robert Benchley, November 7, 1929.

198 DOTTIE IS so LOW: Robert Benchley letter to Gertrude Benchley, ca. December 20, 1928, Mugar Library.

199 EVENTUALLY, THE PAGES CAME BACK
:
New York Telegraph
, January 28, 1929.

199 AT HER WIT’S END: Parker speech,
Seven
Arts.

200 WHEN IT WAS ACCEPTED: “How Am I to
Know?”
was sung by Russ Colombo with a guitar accompaniment. This scene, using two sound tracks, proved to be one of the best in the film.

200 IN CONTRAST, GEORGIE OPP: Years later, in Hollywood, Dorothy stayed at the Chateau Marmont in a suite directly below Oppenheimer’s. She was entertaining friends when suddenly a tremendous crash came from upstairs. Pay no attention, she said, “It’s only George Oppenheimer dropping another name.”

200 NO, SHE SAID
:
Brooklyn Eagle
, November 18, 1928.

Eleven: Sonnets in Suicide, or the Life of John Knox

201 DOROTHY BLAMED THE LANGUAGE: Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, September 1929.

201 FOR SIX
WEEKS:
Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, November 28, 1929.

201 CONFINED TO HER
HOTEL:
Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, September 1929.

201 WHEN SHE BEGAN TO FEEL BETTER: Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, November 28, 1929.

202 AFTERWARD, LOOKING: Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, September 1929.

202 HE SIMPLY CAN’T SPEAK:
Ibld.

202 DOROTHY LEFT HER PASSPORT: Robert Benchley diary, Mugar Library, Boston University.

202 IHAVE A
COLLECTION:
Dorothy Parker letter to Alexander Woollcott, ca. July 1929, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

202 IT
STOOD
SURROUNDED: Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, September 1929.

203 WHEN THE CHICKEN TURNED OUT
TO
BE: Dorothy Parker letter to Alexander Woollcott, ca. July 1929, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

203 NUMEROUS PAGES: Ibid.

203 THE
LUCKY
MAN: Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, September 1929.

204 HE RESPONDED: Ibid.

204 SOMETIMES YVONNE ROUSSEL: Yvonne Luff-Roussel letter to author, August 3,1982.

204 I DON’TKNOW: Dorothy Parker letter to Robert Benchley, November 7, 1929.

205 SHE FOUND HERSELF: Dorothy Parker letter to Helen Droste, September 1929.

205
HIS
REPLY: Ibid.

205 DOROTHY PREPARED: Ibid.

205 HE
WOULD
NOT
PERMIT:
Dorothy Parker letter to Robert Benchley, November 7,1929.

206 DOROTHY IMMEDIATELY CABLED BENCHLEY: Ibid.

206 SHE HAD ALWAYS CONSIDERED: Ibid.

207 AH, OLD
BOOGLES
BENCHLEY: Ibid.

207 CHRIST, THINK OF: Ibid.

207 LIQUOR, SHE FOUND: Ibid.

208 ON THANDISGIVING DAY:
Dorothy
Parker letter to Helen Droste, November 28, 1929.

208 IN THE EVENINGS: John Dos Passos,
The Best of Times: An Informal
Mem. oir
, New American Library, 1966, p. 203.

208 SEE BY
PARIS HERALD
: Dorothy Parker cables to Robert Benchley, December 1929.

209 CURLED UP:
New York World
, February 1, 1930, p. 1.

209 WHEN SOMEBODY ASKED:
New York Telegram
, February 1, 1930.

209 WHEN SHE BEGAN TO TALK: Archibald MacLeish letter to Ernest Hemingway, February 10, 1930. In
Letters of Archibald MacLeish, 1907-1982,
edited by R. H. Winnick, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1983, p.232,

210 WRITE
NOVELS:
Dorothy Parker letter to Robert Berichley, November 7, 1929.

210 IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SENSIBLE: Richard Lamparski interview with Dorothy Parker.

210
SUBMITTINC
TO
FORCE MAJEURE
:
According to Thomas Guinzburg, Harold Guinzburg’s son and successor at Viking Press, Dorothy’s novel remained the longest unfulfilled contract in the company’s history.

211 GOODBYE
DARLING:
George Oppenheimer cable to Dorothy Parker, May 24, 1930.

212 THE LAST TWO
DAYS:
Robert Benchley diary, Mugar Library.

212 GERALD SHOPPED FOR RECORDS: Unidentified newspaper clipping.

213 ALL THE
REVIEWS:
Dorothy Parker cable to George Oppenheimer, July 2, 1930.

213
OPPENHEIMER
REPLIED: George Oppenheimer letter to Dorothy Parker, July 3, 1930.

213 ONE NIGHT AT HARRY’S: Bruccoli et al., p. 430.

214 IT PAINED STEWART: Stewart, p. 188.

214 LITTLE DROPS OF GRAIN ALCOHOL: Hemingway, p. 86.

214 AM NEARLY GONE: Dorothy Parker cable to George Oppenheimer, October 13, 1930.

214
FROM
CANNES: Dorothy Parker cable to Robert Benchley, ca. October 24, 1930.

215 ARRIVING NEW YORK: Dorothy Parker cable to Robert Benchley, November 8,1930.

215 GETTING
AWAY:
Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker
, January 24, 1931, p. 62;
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 527.

215 SHE WANTED TO: Parker, “Theatre,”
The New Yorker
, March 7, 1931, p.33.

215 IN JANUARY: Parker, “Reading and Writing,”
The New Yorker,
January 24, 1931, p. 62.

215 HER FIRST REVIEW: Parker, “Theatre,”
The New Yorker,
February 21, 1931, p. 25.

216 ESCORTING HER HOME: Author’s interview with Gertrude Macy.

216 A FRIEND LATER DESCRIBED HIM: J. Bryan III,
Merry Gentlemen (and One Lady
), Atheneum, 1985, p. 115; author’s interview with Allen Saalburg.

217 I AM
SORRY:
John 0’Hara letter to Tom O‘Hara, May 20, 1932, in John O’-Hara,
Selected Letters of John 0’Hara,
edited by Matthew Bruccoli, Random House, 1978, p. 63.

218 GIVEN HER LOVE FOR ANIMALS: Keats, 139.

218 OH,
SOMEBODY SIGHED:
Vernon Duke,
Passport to Paris
, Little, Brown and Co., 1955, p. 268.

219 I HAVE NO SQUASH COURTS
:
Prescott, p. 7.

219
DEATH AND TAXES: Parker
, “Summary,”
The Portable Dorothy
Parker, p. 313.

219 SHE DESCRIBED HIM: In Charles Brackett’s 1934 novel
Entirely Surrounded
, the main character is a portrait of Dorothy at the time of her affair with McClain
.
Daisy Lester, a celebrated wit and nightclub singer, describes her lover as “a god-damned male whore trading on that body of his.”

219 WHEN SHE ONCE LEARNED: Bryan, p. 117.

219 DEPRESSED, DOROTHY: James Thurber,
The Seal in the Bedroom & Other Predicaments
, Harper Brothers, 1932, introduction by Dorothy Parker, p. x.

219 ANY ROYALTIES
:
Handwritten note, Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Library.

220 SEND ME ASAW: Prescott, p. 34.

221 CAN’T
FACE
DECIDING
:
Parker, “From the Diary of a New York Lady,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 332.

221 IN THE MONTHS
:
New York Herald Tribune
, December 12, 1932.

222 SHE ASKED SOME
:
New York World-Telegram,
September 15, 1932.

222 LIKE HERSELF: Thurber, p. viii.

223 OH, YOU CAUGHT ME: Bennett Cerf,
At Random
:
The Reminiscences of Bennett Cerf,
Random House, 1977, p. 34.

223
I
HAVE NO DOUBT: Woollcott, “Our Mrs. Parker,” p. 190.

224 SHE CAREFULLY EXAMINED
:
Reprint,
Holyoke Transcript,
November 11, 1932, Tom Mooney Collection, Bancroft Library, University of California—Berkeley.

224 SHE IMMEDIATELY COMPOSED: Ibid.

224 HOW NOW
,
MR. PEPYS: Adams, vol. 2, p. 1121.

225 SHE AND FANNY BRICE: Author’s interview with Ruth Goetz.

225 SID PERELMAN LATER WROTE: S. J. Perelman,
The Last Laugh
, Simon and Schuster, 1981, pp. 171-3
.