Dorothy Parker Drank Here: A Novel. Ellen Meister. Penguin Group (USA). February
2015. 336 pp. ISBN#: 9780399166877.
One
finds a very special book in the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan in 2007. The signatures of famous writers and artists
are listed and those who sign it get to stick around their earthly life, in
Spirit that is, as long as they wish until they yield to the “white light”
awaiting their final entry and promising peace and love with those who have
gone before them. It’s hard to resist
that light for most of those entered on that list, but Dorothy Parker has no
problem with that. She’s fiercely
focused to stick around forever. When
the book is closed, no one can see her; when the book is open, she can be seen
and even felt by the observer. Her signature in the book guarantees her
permanent residence at the famous hotel and free drinks in the bargain. Now, she’s on a mission!
Norah
Wolfe is an assistant producer for a declining, actually failing, TV show,
thinks if she can get an interview with Ted Shriver, a 1970s famous author who
is now a recluse, the TV show will be saved.
Ted Shriver, however, is dying of a brain tumor and still punishing
himself for his behavior that led his ex-wife to insert plagiarized paragraphs
into Shriver’s last published novel, which all but destroyed his literary
fame. He knows Audrey Shriver did the
dastardly deed out of pure, unadulterated hate because of his adultery but he
refuses to make that information public.
This
then is the plot line – to get Ted to expose Audrey in public, on air in
Norah’s show. He’s not buying. It also turns out he could save himself with
some risky brain surgery but he’s not buying that either.
While
the plot is simple, what really makes this novel funny and special are the multiple
scenes with fanciful, ironic, and spirited dialogue between Dorothy, Ted,
Norah, and later Audrey and her friend.
Dorothy’s sense of humor is droll but comic. She’s a better investigator than Norah and
Dorothy has a keen perception of what to say and do at just the right
moment. The outcome, however, is far
from what is expected. Intriguing
indeed!
Dorothy Parker Drank Here: A
Novel is
a grand read created by a clever, talented writer, Ellen Meister, whose novel
is, again, a reader’s delight! Great
read!
