August 22

Dorothy Rothschild's Birthday

Dorothy Rothschild Parker was a talented writer , poet, and critic who suffered from severe depression. Dismissive of her own talents, she deplored her reputation as a America's most famous "wisecracker". When her friends first learned that Dorothy was dead, they immediately suspected suicide instead of the heart attack that killed her. Dorothy had made some previous abortive suicide attempts and had wryly commented about the subject in several of her poems including Resume in which she wrote

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acid stains you;
Drugs cause cramp;
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

In 1917, Dorothy Rothschild metand married a Wall Street stockbroker, Edwin Pond Parker but they were separated when Edwin enlisted in the army during World War I.. She began her literary career in 1918 by writing g theater reviews for Vanity Fair Her acerbic wit made her the most quotable member of the Algonquin Round Table, a glittering mélange of critics, writers, actors and socialites that were synonymous with New York sophistication in the 1920s. Dorothy's Roundtable cohorts included Alex Wolcott, George S. Kaufman, Harold Ross, Robert Benchley and Harpo Marx. Their wit, unbridled egos, and conversational brilliance often masked a profound melancholy, loneliness and pathological dissatisfaction with their lives evidenced in their alcoholism and frequent states of depression. Following the breakup of the group, Parker went to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting and received two Academy Award nominations. Her involvement in left-wing politics eventually landed her on the infamous Hollywood blacklist.

It was Dorothy who invented the quip "candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker" which was probably the most quoted line of the 1920s. Dorothy's wit was at her zenith with:

When Dorothy and Clare Booth Luce were both entering a theater for the premier of a new play,
Clare stepped back and gestured for Dorothy to enter first with a caustic "Age before beauty."
Dorothy stepped ahead of her, turned around and replied "Pearls before the swine."

After Robert Sherwood and Mary Brandon were married and Mary announced her pregnancy,
Dorothy sent a telegram stating "Congratulations - we all knew you had it in you."

Alex Wolcott had a summer house called "Wit's End" where he thrived on entertaining his Roundtable cronies. At one of his gatherings, he introduced whiskey-based confection which he called Dorothy Parker's Balls, the inspiration for which came from her "Candy is dandy" quote and her often "masculine" assertiveness.

So let's enjoy Dorothy's Balls on her birthday and watch Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) with Dorothy brilliantly played by the incredible Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Dorothy Parker's Balls

Ingredients

3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
dash of salt

1/2 cup scotch whiskey
dash of sweet vermouth
2 cups of confectioner's sugar
3 TB corn syrup

Instructions

1. Make wafer crumbs by placing vanilla wafers in a food processor or blender and reduce to fine crumbs.
2. Mix crumbs, cherries, cocoa, pecans, liquor, corn syrup, salt and one cup of confectioners sugar in a food processor or by hands.
3. Form into 1" balls and roll in remaining confectioner's sugar, chill for one hour and serve.

Makes 2 dozen balls