My guest on this episode of Writers at Work is Gail Crowther, whose latest book, DOROTHY PARKER IN HOLLYWOOD, examines the life of Parker in an unexpected context. Not in New York, where she began a career in journalism, was a founding member of the Algonquin Roundtable, and established her reputation as a poet and all-around acerbic wit, but in Southern California, where she lived for three decades.

Three seemingly miserable decades. A writer, researcher and academic, Dr. Crowther's previous books include THREE MARTINI AFTERNOONS AT THE RITZ, a dual biography exploring the social rebellion of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, THE HAUNTED READER AND SYLVIA PLATH and SYLVIA PLATH IN DEVON: A YEAR'S TURNING co-written with Elizabeth Sigmund.

On the surface, Dorothy Parker seems an entirely different type of subject from Plath and Sexton, authors of highly personal and revealing poetry that's anything but glib. But in DOROTHY PARKER IN HOLLYWOOD, we see a talented, troubled artist whose gift for satire may have developed as a shield to ward off further unhappiness.

There is much to recommend in DOROTHY PARKER IN HOLLYWOOD, not the least of which is witnessing Parker in what to readers is an unfamiliar, often glamorous, yet unsatisfying setting. I enjoyed Crowther’s Parker portrayal, and I'm happy to discuss the book and other matters with her.