Dorothy Parker Drank Here

By: Ellen Meister

Narrated by: Donna Postel

Heavenly peace? No, thank you. Dorothy Parker would rather wander the famous halls of the Algonquin Hotel, drink in hand, searching for someone, anyone, who will keep her company on this side of eternity.

After forty years she thinks she’s found the perfect candidate in Ted Shriver, a brilliant literary voice of the 1970s, silenced early in a promising career by a devastating plagiarism scandal. Now a prickly recluse, he hides away in the old hotel slowly dying of cancer, which he refuses to treat. If she can just convince him to sign the infamous guestbook of Percy Coates, Dorothy Parker might be able to persuade the jaded writer to spurn the white light with her. Ted, however, might be the only person living or dead who's more stubborn than Parker, and he rejects her proposal outright.

When a young, ambitious TV producer, Norah Wolfe, enters the hotel in search of Ted Shriver, Parker sees another opportunity to get what she wants. Instead, she and Norah manage to uncover such startling secrets about Ted's past that the future changes for all of them.

©2015 Recorded by arrangement with G.P. Putnam's Sons, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House Company (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Meister skillfully translates the rapier-like wit of the Algonquin Round Table to modern-day New York …[with] pathos, nuanced characters, plenty of rapid-fire one-liners, and a heart-rendig denouement." -Publishers Weekly

Accidental "listen"....

I was looking for Dorothy Parker's actual writings and got impatient and chose this. And I'm so glad I did. What a pleasant surprise. A little historical fiction and some fantasy. I found the modern characters to be the least interesting but love the author's imaginative protrayal of 'Dot' as well as what she might have thought of all these people and situations.

Much Better Than Expected

I needed an airplane book and chose this as freebie. It is a very interesting novel, playing with choices of life, death, relationships, and how all of these play in harmony or not.

Strong Reader Performance Good Concept

The reader whose name I should have remembered, sorry, did an excellent job of finding Dorothy Parker’s voice, and made the scenes with her quite enjoyable. However, the protagonist came in and out of focus both in reading and the writing. But overall the central concept or conceit of the plot was so good I’m sorry I didn’t think of it first. There are poignant moments, relatable emotions, some laughs, a few clever repurposing of Dorothy Parker’s quips. Language and content suitable for a G- rating. Generally an enjoyable listen.

Good story filled

This story is filled with history and fantasy. I loved how original the book is. Def recommend

Loved every minute!

I listen to a lot of books and this is one of my very favorite. Once I started listening I couldn't stop!