Author Guide · Music Memoir
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Dolly Parton was born in 1946 in a one-room cabin on the Little Pigeon River in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children. Her father could not read, and she later started the Imagination Library, which sends free books to young children every month. Her songs include “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”, and her books keep returning to them: an autobiography, a book about the stories behind her lyrics, a thriller written with James Patterson, a history of her stage clothes two cookbooks and a short book about dreaming. This guide covers her 7 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 7 key books · 1994–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Dolly Parton’s best-known books are her autobiography Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business (1994), Songteller: My Life in Lyrics (2020) and the novel Run, Rose, Run (2022), written with James Patterson. Start with Songteller, where she tells the story behind her songs. Read on for the cookbooks and the book about her stage clothes.
Where to Start with Dolly Parton
If you want her life through her songs
→ Songteller (2020) — the stories behind her lyrics.
If you want her full life story
→ Dolly (1994) — the 1994 autobiography.
If you want a novel
→ Run, Rose, Run (2022) — a Nashville thriller written with James Patterson.
If you want to cook her family’s food
→ Good Lookin’ Cookin’ (2024) — written with her sister Rachel.
7 Dolly Parton Books, in Order
Dolly
Her autobiography, published in 1994 when she was 48. It tells her life up to then, from her childhood in the Smoky Mountains and her move to Nashville the day after she finished high school in 1964 to The Porter Wagoner Show, her marriage to Carl Dean and her films.
Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s
A cookbook published in 2006. As the subtitle says, it mixes recipes with stories and laughter from her life.
Dream More
A short book published in November 2012, in which she encourages readers to dream, drawing on stories from her own life.
Songteller
Written with the music journalist Robert K. Oermann. Parton tells the story behind 175 of her songs, including “Coat of Many Colors” and “Jolene” to “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5”, with the full lyrics, photographs and memorabilia from her archive. Taken together the stories make a second memoir, organised by song.
Run, Rose, Run
A thriller written with James Patterson, set in the world of country music. Parton released an album of the same name alongside the book as a companion to the story.
Behind the Seams
Written with the author and journalist Holly George-Warren. A photographic history of her stage clothes, wigs and costumes from the 1960s to today, with Parton telling the stories behind them, back to the feed-sack clothes her mother sewed.
Good Lookin’ Cookin’
A cookbook written with her sister Rachel Parton George, published in September 2024.
In What Order to Read Dolly Parton
The books stand alone. For her life, Songteller and the 1994 autobiography overlap: the autobiography is told in order up to the early 1990s, while Songteller runs to 2020 and is arranged by song. Behind the Seams covers the same life through her clothes.
Run, Rose, Run is fiction and can be read on its own. The two cookbooks are for cooking; Dream More is a short book.
A reading path
1. Songteller (2020)
2. Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business (1994)
3. Behind the Seams (2023)
4. Run, Rose, Run (2022)
The years · 1946–2022
Quick facts about Dolly Parton
- Known for
- Dolly Parton is the country singer-songwriter of “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”, who founded the Imagination Library and has written about her life through her songs.
- 1946
- Born in the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
- 1967
- Joins The Porter Wagoner Show
- 1994
- Dolly
- 2020
- Songteller
- 2022
- Run, Rose, Run
- Born
- 19 January 1946, Pittman Center, Tennessee; fourth of twelve children
- Songs
- “Coat of Many Colors”, “Jolene”, “I Will Always Love You”, “9 to 5”
- Grammys
- Eleven
- Married
- Carl Dean, 1966 until his death in 2025
- Founded
- The Imagination Library, which sends free books to young children
- Books
- Seven key books from 1994 to 2024
The red mark is 2020: Songteller, the book in which she tells the stories behind 175 of her songs.
How Dolly Parton Writes
Parton writes the way she talks on stage: first person, direct, with jokes about herself and stories about her family in the Smoky Mountains. The same material recurs across the books, seen from a different angle each time: the coat her mother sewed appears as the song “Coat of Many Colors”, in Songteller and in Behind the Seams.
Most of her books are collaborations, and she credits the co-writers: the music journalist Robert K. Oermann on Songteller, James Patterson on Run, Rose, Run, Holly George-Warren on Behind the Seams and her sister Rachel on Good Lookin’ Cookin’.
Her songs are the centre of her writing life, and Songteller is built on the lyrics themselves. For other musicians who write about their songs, see the guides to Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen.
Watch
Dolly Parton and James Patterson on Run, Rose, Run
Dolly Parton and James Patterson talk to ABC’s Good Morning America in 2022 about their thriller Run, Rose, Run.
Frequently asked questions about Dolly Parton’s books
How many books has Dolly Parton written?
Seven key books for adults, from her 1994 autobiography to the cookbook Good Lookin’ Cookin’ (2024), plus picture books for children. Several were written with co-authors.
What are Dolly Parton’s books in order?
Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business (1994), Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s (2006), Dream More (2012), Songteller (2020), Run, Rose, Run (2022), Behind the Seams (2023) and Good Lookin’ Cookin’ (2024).
Where should I start with Dolly Parton?
With Songteller: My Life in Lyrics (2020), where she tells the story behind 175 of her songs. For her life in order, read the 1994 autobiography.
What is Dolly Parton’s most famous book?
Songteller (2020) and the novel Run, Rose, Run (2022), written with James Patterson, are her best-known books.
Did Dolly Parton write Run, Rose, Run herself?
She wrote it with the thriller writer James Patterson, and released a companion album of the same name.
Does Dolly Parton have an autobiography?
Yes: Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, published in 1994. Songteller (2020) and Behind the Seams (2023) continue the story through her songs and her stage clothes.
Has Dolly Parton written a cookbook?
Yes: Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s (2006) and Good Lookin’ Cookin’ (2024), the second written with her sister Rachel Parton George.
What is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library?
A programme she launched in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up, that sends a free book every month to young children who are signed up. Her father could not read, and she has named him as the reason she started it.
Is Dolly Parton still alive?
Yes. She was born on 19 January 1946 in Tennessee. Her husband, Carl Dean, whom she married in 1966, died in 2025.
Footnotes
- Dolly Parton — Wikipedia
- Dolly Parton, Songteller — Chronicle Books
- Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams — Billboard
- Dolly Parton and James Patterson join forces for the novel Run, Rose, Run — NPR
- Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business — dollyparton.com
- Dolly Parton to release Good Lookin’ Cookin’ with sister Rachel Parton George — dollyparton.com
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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