Dorothy Parker (22 August 1893 – 7 June 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was best known for her wit and her eye for the foibles of 20th-century urban life.

Her career took off in 1918 while she was writing theatre criticism for “Vanity Fair” (filling in for P. G. Wodehouse). At that time she met Robert Benchley, who became a close friend, and Robert E. Sherwood. The three of them began lunching regularly at the Algonquin Hotel, as founder members of the “Algonquin Round Table.”

When “The New Yorker” was founded in 1925, Parker and Benchley were part of a board of editors established to allay the concerns of the investors. Her first piece for the magazine was published in its second issue; she became famous for her short, viciously humorous poems, many highlighting ludicrous aspects of her many (largely unsuccessful) romantic affairs and others wistfully considering the appeal of suicide. The next 15 years were her greatest period of productivity and success.

Some of Dorothy Parker’s most popular work was published in "The New Yorker" in the form of acerbic book reviews under the by-line "Constant Reader". Her reviews appeared semi-regularly from 1927 to 1933, were widely read, and were posthumously published in a collection under the name “Constant Reader” in 1970.

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