The short stories still exhibit the writing talent of Ms. Parker, ninety years or so on. The dialogue is true to my memory of how contrived a lot of the chit-chat from my parents' days was; she writes so that inflections of speech, and therefore subtle meanings, are recorded faithfully. I loved her savage wit and her sharp awareness of bad form when someone commits a social crime.
Disappointment in love is a common theme. Ms Parker writes from her own experiences at how heart-braking it is.
There is an introduction to this collection written by Brendan Gill. It is worth reading for an overall evaluation of her work.
The copious number of poems, I have not dwelt on, but the final section is a selection of her reviews of books and theatre. These are often sparkling efforts, full of humour and outrage at the good and the bad.

Short stories which I don’t align with. Well written ( )

This book has sat on my shelves for a decade. Until now. I'm glad I read it because now I can set it free. I've heard a lot about Dorothy Parker and I had built her into a cult hero poet in my mind...but found her poetry to be quite angsty and mostly centered about heteronormative romantic drama, beginnings and endings, and it was just not the sort of thing I'm drawn to. ( )

For women, middle-aged or older, preferably for those already disillusioned. For those, four stars maybe. ( )

Enjoyed most of her stories..wish she had written an autobiography. ( )