The Mind Creative - NOVEMBER 2013 NOVEMBER 2013 | Page 40

The Mind Creative Nov 2013

The year was 1938 and the city was New York.
Dorothy Parker and a snooty debutante were both going in to
supper at a party. At the door, the debutante made elaborate way,
saying sweetly “Age before beauty, Mrs. Parker.” “And pearls
before swine,” said Mrs. Parker, sweeping in, without batting an
eyelid.
On another occasion, when asked about the actress Marion
Davies, Mrs. Parker said “She has only two expressions: joy and
indigestion.”
Quips and comments like these gave immortality to Dorothy
Parker, to the extent that Time magazine devoted an entire page
to her obituary; which is really noteworthy. However, her
extraordinary achievements in as a writer and a social activist are
often lost behind this mask of incurable acerbity.
After her death, the New York Times
wrote “In print and in person, Miss
Parker sparkled with a word or
phrase, for she honed her humour
to its most economical size.”
Dorothy Parker’s writing first came
into limelight when she worked as a
temporary theatre critic in the Vanity
Fair magazine during 1918; the
position having being vacated by
none other than PG Wodehouse who
was away on holidays. Parker's
caustic wit as a critic initially proved
popular, but she was eventually
terminated by the magazine in 1920
after her criticisms began to offend
powerful producers once too often.
She then joined the New Yorker when ??Bv2f?V?FVB???#R?Bv??V@??V?&?G?v?F??W"6??'B?f?6??W6??C??