
Enough Rope (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Witty Jazz Age Verse of Love, Loneliness, Satire, and Modern DisillusionmentBy Dorothy ParkerLength2h 24m
About this audiobook
Published in 1926, Enough Rope is Dorothy Parker's first collection of verse, a sharp, elegant distillation of Jazz Age disillusionment. Its poems are brief, metrically polished, and deceptively light, turning traditional lyric forms—epigram, ballad, lament, love song—into instruments of social satire and emotional exposure. Parker's wit masks a persistent preoccupation with romantic failure, loneliness, female performance, and the absurd rituals of modern sophistication, placing the book within both American modernism and the urbane literary culture of the New Yorker circle. Dorothy Parker, already renowned as a critic, poet, and member of the Algonquin Round Table, brought to the collection the habits of a professional observer: theatrical acuity, verbal precision, and a distrust of sentimentality. Her own experiences in journalism, bohemian New York, unhappy relationships, and the gendered expectations imposed on witty, independent women inform the poems' mingling of comedy and injury. Enough Rope is recommended to readers interested in concise poetic craft, feminist literary history, and the darker intelligence behind comic writing. It remains a brilliant introduction to Parker's voice: graceful, unsparing, and painfully amused.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenrePoetry
Length2 hrs 24 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 25, 2022
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
26The New Love
2Introduction
27Rainy Night
3Author Biography
28For a Sad Lady
4Historical Context
29Recurrence
5Synopsis (Selection)
30Story of Mrs. W--
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6Part One
31The Dramatists
7Threnody
32August
8The Small Hours
33The White Lady
9The False Friends
34I Know I Have Been Happiest
10The Trifler
35Testament
11A Very Short Song
36"I Shall Come Back”
12A Well-Worn Story
37Condolence
13Convalescent
38The Immortals
14The Dark Girl’s Rhyme
39A Portrait
15Epitaph
40Part Two
16Light of Love
41Portrait of the Artist
17Wail
42Chant for Dark Hours
18The Satin Dress
43Unfortunate Coincidence
19Somebody's Song
44Verse Reporting Late Arrival at a Conclusion
20Anecdote
45Inventory
21Braggart
46Now at Liberty
22Epitaph for a Darling Lady
47Comment
23To a Much Too Unfortunate Lady
48Plea
24Paths
49Pattern
25Hearthside
50De Profundis