Drama critic, author, lecturer, and actor Alexander Woollcott was a famous wit and a diamond in the tiara that was the Algonquin Round Table, a collection of some of the wittiest and brightest men and women of American letters in the early twentieth century. Woollcott's irascibility and acerbic nature were famous and he was immortalized as the leading character (only slightly disguised) in the Kaufman and Hart play THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER. Howard Teichmann, who wrote a splendid biography of playwright and fellow Algonquian George S. Kaufman, brings Woollcott to fascinating life in this clear-eyed biography. ( )

A fun introduction to Woollcott's life and times as a journalist, critic and humorist. Also features other luminaries of the Algonquin Round Table like Dorothy Parker. ( )

Anecdotal gossipy biography of one of New Yorks literati of the early twentieth century. This book is an easy read and a decent introduction to anyone who is unfamiliar with Alexander Woollcott. It is not a deep or scholarly book; nor does it pretend to be. ( )