Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister

It was a conjuring trick come true.  Everyone at the grand event signed the book, mostly as a joke.  It was supposed to keep them alive in spirit and connected to this world.  And now Dorothy Parker finds herself haunting the Algonquin Hotel.  It'd be OK except everyone who joins her is looking forward to moving on and doesn't stay.  Dorothy is content to stay in the here and now, even as a ghost.  Will she never find some company to have a good conversation with?

Berkley and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published December 1st.

According to Wikipedia, "Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles."  Her ghost is carrying on this same tradition.

This was an interesting read.  If they closed the book, Dorothy disappeared.  But Dorothy doesn't want to disappear so she involves her life in those who visit the Algonquin.  For example, we have a man upstairs who is just waiting to die.  He has a brain tumor and won't have it removed.  He's a man carrying a great guilt over his life.  He can't fix what he's broken.  He's lost his reputation over a plagiarism charge and he's done with life.  Dorothy is OK with that if he will just sign the book.  Then she can have some company.

When she finds out a young woman wants to interview him, she uses her to make contact with him.  Neither woman gets what they want but they are both determined to keep asking him.

All the people in his life have been influenced by him and his actions.  Much of the past gets resolved before the end of the book.  The ending was different from what I expected and I liked it.  This one is well worth a read.  Despite the specter of death, it was rip roarin' good fun.