Guest host David Sedaris presents two ruefully funny stories. Dorothy Parker skewers a boozy, possessive mother in "I Live on Your Visits," read by Celeste Holm. Then, a country wedding becomes a comedy of errors in Arthur Bradford's "Snakebite," read by John Benjamin Hickey
Guest host David Sedaris presents two ruefully funny stories. Dorothy Parker was the doyenne of the Algonquin Round Table and famous for her sharply satirical stories featuring flappers, socialites, and characters of all kinds. In the sharply observed "I Live on Your Visits," she perfectly captures a boozy, possessive mother and her embarrassed teenage son. The story was read by the late Celeste Holm.
In our second story, Arthur Bradford's "Snakebite," a country wedding becomes a comedy of errors, and friendships are frayed. The reader is John Benjamin Hickey.
The artists
Arthur Bradford is the author of two short story collections, Dogwalker and Turtleface and Beyond. He's been published in Esquire, McSweeneys, Zoetrope, Dazed & Confused, Tin House, and Vice, and is the recipient of an O. Henry Award. He also directed the documentary series How’s Your News? and 6 Days to Air on Comedy Central.
John Benjamin Hickey won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in The Normal Heart. He has also appeared on Broadway in Cabaret, The Crucible, Mary Stuart, and Six Degrees of Separation. Most recently, Hickey starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave on the West End in London in The Inheritance, which won the Olivier Award for best play. His screen credits include The Big C, The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Manhattan, Difficult People, Pitch Perfect, Get On Up, Truth, and Mapplethorpe. Hickey will star in the forthcoming film from acclaimed Israeli director Eytan Fox, entitled Sublet.
Celeste Holm enjoyed a rich film, theater, and television career that included classic movies such as Gentlemen's Agreement, for which she won the Supporting Actress Oscar, and All About Eve. On Broadway, she originated the role of Ado Annie in Oklahoma!. Additional credits include guest appearances on many television series, including Columbo, Archie Bunker’s Place, and Falconcrest.
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) began her writing career in 1916 as an editor for Vogue. The following year she began to write for Vanity Fair, where she would later become the theater critic. At Vanity Fair she met the writers with whom she would form the Algonquin Round Table. In 1925, she began writing short stories for The New Yorker. She wrote for the magazine for more than 25 years. Published collections include The Collected Dorothy Parker, The Portable Dorothy Parker, and Ladies of The Corridor.
