For the Great American Read in New York, PBS WNET Thirteen interviewed me at the Algonquin Hotel to talk about the 1920s literary scene in the city. The show is part of the Metrofocus series. I spoke about the history of the Algonquin Round Table and the many writers and friends who gathered at the landmark hotel.
Next year, 2019, is the centennial of the group’s founding. Correspondent Naeem Douglas did a marvelous job on this piece, and I really like the editing and music. Among my books are the Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide (Globe Pequot), Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide (Lyons Press), A Journey Into Dorothy Parker’s New York (Roaring Forties Press), and Dorothy Parker, Complete Broadway, 1918-1924 (Donald Books).
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts. It was started by the BBC in 2003 and is now a global phenomenon. In New York City, two of the books on the reading list are Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City, and E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web.
