Dorothy Parker in Hollywood

An expansive, illuminating, and “welcome addition to understand” (Shelf Awareness) the legendary writer Dorothy Parker, this unique biography explores her life and legacy in Hollywood—from the author of the “fascinating” (Town & Country) Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz.

The glamorous extravagances and devasting lows of her time in Hollywood are revealed as never before in this “ambitious, thoughtfully researched” (Kirkus Reviews) biography of Dorothy Parker—from leaving New York City to work on numerous classic screenplays such as the 1937 A Star Is Born to the devastation of alcoholism, a miscarriage, and her husband’s suicide. Parker’s involvement with anti-fascist and anti-racist groups, which led to her ultimate blacklisting, and her early work in the civil rights movement that inspired her to leave her entire estate to the NAACP are also explored as never before.

“Briskly detailed, fluently insightful, and dramatically reorienting” (Booklist, starred review), Dorothy Parker in Hollywood brings the iconic writer back to life on the page in all her wit, grit, and brilliance.

Gail Crowther is a writer, researcher, and academic. She is the author of Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton, The Haunted Reader & Sylvia Plath, and the coauthor of Sylvia Plath in Devon: A Year’s Turning and These Ghostly Archives: The Unearthing of Sylvia Plath. Gail divides her time between the North of England and London. As a feminist vegan, she engages with politics concerning gender, power, and animal rights.