
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
51They Part
2Introduction
52Ballade of a Great Weariness
3Author Biography
53Resume
4Historical Context
54Renunciation
5Synopsis (Selection)
55Day-Dreams
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6Part One
56The Veteran
7Threnody
57Prophetic Soul
8The Small Hours
58Verse for a Certain Dog
9The False Friends
59Folk Tune
10The Trifler
60Godspeed
11A Very Short Song
61Song of Perfect Propriety
12A Well-Worn Story
62Social Note
13Convalescent
63One Perfect Rose
14The Dark Girl’s Rhyme
64Ballade at Thirty-five
15Epitaph
65The Thin Edge
16Light of Love
66Spring Song
17Wail
67Love Song
18The Satin Dress
68Indian Summer
19Somebody's Song
69Philosophy
20Anecdote
70For an Unknown Lady
21Braggart
71The Leal
22Epitaph for a Darling Lady
72Finis
23To a Much Too Unfortunate Lady
73Words of Comfort to be Scratched on a Mirror
24Paths
74Men
25Hearthside
75News Item
26The New Love
76Song of One of the Girls
27Rainy Night
77Lullaby
28For a Sad Lady
78Faut de Mieuw
29Recurrence
79Roundel
30Story of Mrs. W--
80A Certain Lady
31The Dramatists
81Observation
32August
82Symptom Recital
33The White Lady
83Fighting Words
34I Know I Have Been Happiest
84Rondeau Redouble
35Testament
85Autobiography
36"I Shall Come Back”
86The Choice
37Condolence
87Ballade of Big Plans
38The Immortals
88General Review of the Sex Situation
39A Portrait
89Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom
40Part Two
90Pictures in the Smoke
41Portrait of the Artist
91Biographies
42Chant for Dark Hours
92Nocturne
43Unfortunate Coincidence
93Interview
44Verse Reporting Late Arrival at a Conclusion
94Song in a Minor Key
45Inventory
95Experience
46Now at Liberty
96Neither Bloody nor Bowed
47Comment
97The Burned Child
48Plea
98Analysis
49Pattern
99Reflection
50De Profundis
100Memorable Quotes