Dorothy Parker - Cute, Jewish
Word from: Mordy
Though I distinctly remember asking for the position of "Repository of Parkeresque Witticisms," apparently the large quantities of alcohol manipulated my tongue because the official board positions for the Dorothy Parker Society of New York were released today and I am merely "Vice President of Parkeresque Writing." Charlotte, another of our bloggers, was dubbed "Secretary of Poetry," though I am unsure if her job refers to the inscribing of Parker's poetry, a feat not required since Parker's death in 1967.
Dorothy Parker, drinker, wit, writer for the New Yorker, etc, once said about herself, "I was just a little Jewish girl trying to be cute." Now I feel like I should've asked to be liaison to the Orthodox Jewish community. The L ran a story about the Dorothy Parker yahrzeit that the couple of us attended earlier this month.
7 Comments:
At 3:59 PM, Dena said…
Well, as someone who almost dressed up as Dorothy Parker for Purim and has been called both Jewish and Little, I am glad to hear of all of the to dos going on in DP's memory.
I have to say that I'm a bigger (and I use the term "big" loosely) fan of her short fiction though than of her poetry.
Favorite story: The Waltz
Favorite Line from the Waltz:
"I was trapped. Trapped like a trap in a trap."
Don't get much cuter than that.
-lil d
At 7:01 PM, Anonymous said…
...except for one thing. Dorothy (nee Rothschild)Parker's Mom was not a Jew. According to most accounts, she was Scottish. Parker went to Catholic schools and both of her marriages were to Gentiles. So, like much of her humor, it is the height of irony for her to describe herself as "a little Jewish girl trying to be cute." She was a nasty, suicidal alcoholic for much of her life.
Sorry to bust any bubbles. We like her curmudgeonly wit, but...
Ben Pincus
benpincus@juno.com
At 2:45 PM, Mordy said…
Please tell me you didn't just challenge a member of the Dorothy Parker society. -g-
While I'm well aware that she halachically wasn't Jewish, Parker certainly considered herself a Jew. She married one, and the Jewish comment is one of a number. Though she fought with her Judaism for much of her life, Parker certainly had a Jewish identity.
Anyhow, what does being a suicidal alcoholic have to do with religion? Add on to that the fact that probably no one around Parker was being makpid on halachic judaism.
At 10:00 PM, Dena said…
Seems to me that being a suicidal alcoholic prone to marrying gentiles only aids her Jewish bonafides.
As does attending Catholic school. (As anyone else whose ever been hit on the hand with a ruler in Bais Yaakov should know).
-d
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