*** "Inventory" 'Four be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe. Four be the things I'd been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt. Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne. Three be the things I shall have till I die: Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.' *** Dorothy Parker became popular shortly after the first world war with her …showed first 75 words of 927 total…

…showed last 75 words of 927 total…satire of the simpering, sensitive female in her work. Many of her leading characters are the self-consciously honest, rambunctious, alcohol-swilling women that the Roaring Twenties produced in that lost generation. The atmosphere was thoroughly conducive to Parker's brief prose and poetry. The 1940s took away some of the shine of her light verse and short stories. However, her work now has the opportunity to make a comeback based upon its sharp wit and smart satire.