Round Table Books

"It took me 15 years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous." — Robert Benchley

The Algonquin Wits: Bon Mots, Wisecracks, Epigrams and Gags
by Robert E. Drennan (Editor), Heywood Hale Broun (Introduction)
(Paperback)
176 pages (illustrated), Citadel Press, 1989

Highly Recommended. This is a great book for any fan of the Round Table. It first came out in 1968 and was reprinted in 1989 and 2000. It has a nice introduction by Heywood Hale Broun (son of Heywood Broun and Ruth Hale). It collects dozens and dozens of the famous quips and quotes. Besides Mrs. Parker, it includes Franklin Pierce Adams, Robert Benchley, Heywood Broun, Edna Ferber, Ring Lardner, George S. Kaufman, Harpo Marx, Harold Ross, Robert Sherwood, Alexander Woollcott and others "completing the circle". There are so many gems here. One of them: Mrs. Parker gave the following advice to a friend who's ailing cat had to be put away: "Try curiosity."

A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York
By Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, Foreword by Marion Meade, 2005, Roaring Forties Press, 150 pps, illustrated.

This new book is part of the ARTPLACE SERIES of literary and art guide books; there are more than 150 illustrations and more than 100 places where Dorothy Parker lived, worked, drank, loved and lost. It is a book for those that want to see New York through her eyes, go back to the era from her birth in 1893 to her death in 1967. It is the only book that shows the reader Manhattan from her perspective, how it influenced her, and how she influenced it. The Library Journal calls it, "a stunning and highly entertaining book that combines biography, architecture, literature, and travel." With a foreword by Marion Meade, author of Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This? and Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties.

The Portable Dorothy Parker
By Dorothy Parker. Introduction by Marion Meade. Cover by Seth.
Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
Paperback: 628 pps, Penguin Books (3/28/2006)

This is the bible for Dorothy Parker lovers. "The Portable" contains Mrs. Parker's short stories, poems, book reviews and Broadway criticism. The book originally came out in 1944 — and has never gone out of print. All of Mrs. Parker's most famous writing is presented here. Her short stories and verse were chosen in 1944 and arranged by Parker herself. This new edition adds her letters, magazine pieces, criticism and book reviews. The book was edited by Marion Meade, author of "Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This?" For most Parker fans, this is the first collection they buy, and it is a good start. If you are going to own just one Parker book, this is it. Read the Marion Meade Q&A -- Seth Q&A -- Book Review.

Dorothy Parker, What Fresh Hell is This?
By Marion Meade, 1987, Penguin Books, 459 pps, illustrated.

Ms. Meade is a thorough and detailed biographer who has a writing style that is perfect for a biography. She really paints a balanced portrait of the amazing Dorothy Parker, and shows why Parker is an important figure in literature. Lots of documentation and sources cited; ancedotes, yarns, and myths about Mrs. Parker. Big photo section. Meade is the only one to interview Parker's family. Of the three Parker biographies out there, this is the best one. Meade is like a private investigator who turns up new information and new facts about Mrs. Parker. You can't be a Parker fan and not own this book.

Kaufman and Co.: Broadway Comedies
by George S. Kaufman (and collaborators)
Hardcover: 950 pages, Library of America (2004)

Here, in the most comprehensive collection of his plays ever assembled, are nine classics: his uproarious "backstage" play The Royal Family (1927, written with Edna Ferber); the Marx Brothers-inspired mayhem of Animal Crackers (1928, with Morrie Ryskind), in a version discovered in Groucho Marx's papers and published here for the first time; June Moon (1929, with Ring Lardner), a hilarious look at a young composer trying to make it big on Tin Pan Alley; Once in a Lifetime (1930, with Moss Hart), one of the first and best satires of Hollywood; Pulitzer Prize-winners Of Thee I Sing (1931, with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin) and You Can't Take It with You (1936, with Moss Hart); Dinner at Eight (1932, with Edna Ferber), a tart ensemble piece that mixes comedy and melodrama; Stage Door (1936, with Edna Ferber), his much-loved story about young actresses trying to make it big in New York City; and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939, with Moss Hart), an unforgettable burlesque of America's cult of celebrity.

The Best of Robert Benchley
by Robert Benchley. Illustrations by Peter Arno.
Wings Press (1996), 353 pages

The Best of Robert Benchley, a compendium of 72 of his funniest stories. There is, for example, his meditation on the future of the species, Future Man: Tree or Mammal, in which he posits that the humans of the future will be both brightly dressed and legless (you'll have to read the essay to find out why); or The Real Public Enemies, in which he laments the hostility of inanimate objects. Seventy-two timeless pieces celebrate the humorous side of life's annoyances and the author's suggestions for coping--or not coping--with them, and address such topics as government imbibing and Christmas finances. Artwork by legendary New Yorker artist Peter Arno only adds to the joy of this edition.

Wit's End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table
by James R. Gaines
Paperback: 251 pages
Publisher: Harcourt; (January 1977)

This is the best book out there about the roots, growth and history of the Round Table. Jim Gaines has done a remarkable job of presenting the colorful group. Packed with photos and illustrations, a must-have book for devotees of the Vicious Circle.

The Complete New Yorker: Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine
Edited by David Remnick (Sept. 2005)
4,109 issues. Half a million pages.
Hardcover Book & 8 DVDs

Every page of every issue from Feb. 1925-Feb. 2005. On 8 DVD-ROMS with a companion highlights book. Every article, every cartoon, every illustration, every advertisement, exactly as it appeared on the printed page, in full color. Flip through full spreads of the magazine to browse headlines, art work, ads, and cartoons, or zoom in on a single page, for closer viewing. Print any pages or covers you choose, or bookmark pages with your own notes. A powerful search environment allows you to home in on the pieces you want to see. The New Yorker's entire history is catalogued by date, contributor, department, and subject.

So Big
by Edna Ferber
Paperback: 272 pages; Perennial; (re-issue September 1, 2000)

Winner of the 1924 Pulitzer Prize, So Big is widely regarded as Edna Ferber's crowning achievement.A rollicking panorama of Chicago's high and low life, this stunning novel follows the travails of gambler's daughter Selina Peake DeJong as she struggles to maintain her dignity, her family, and her sanity in the face of monumental challenges.

The Years with Ross
by James Thurber
Paperback: 336 pages; Harper Perennial (re-issued Jan. 1, 2001)

At the helm of America's most influential literary magazine for more than half a century, Harold Ross introduced readers to a host of exciting talent, including Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Ogden Nash, Peter Arno, Charles Addams, and Dorothy Parker. James Thurber captures not only a complex literary giant, but a historic friendship and a glorious era as well. Thurber wrote this book not long after Ross' death in 1951; it is warm and intimate, and provides a wonderful look at one of the greatest editors in American publishing history.