Author Guide · Memoir
Books Written by
Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1983, then hosted Scientific American Frontiers on PBS from 1993 to 2005, interviewing scientists for public television. Both careers run through his books. The first, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2005), opens with the line “My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six” and covers a childhood bout with polio and his mother’s mental illness. The third is about the subject he took up at the Alda Center for Communicating Science: how people make themselves understood. This guide covers his three key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 3 key books · 2005–2017 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
Alan Alda has written three books: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2005), a memoir; Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (2007), a second book of reflections; and If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? (2017), about communication and empathy. Start with Never Have Your Dog Stuffed.
Where to Start with Alan Alda
If you want his life story
→ Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2005) — his childhood, his parents and his illness with polio.
If you want more after the memoir
→ Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (2007) — his second book.
If you want to communicate better
→ If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? (2017) — drawn from his work with scientists.
3 Alan Alda Books, in Order
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed
Alda’s memoir, published by Random House, starts with his early years travelling with his parents (his father was the actor Robert Alda) and covers a childhood bout with polio and his mother’s mental illness. It opens: “My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that.” His years as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H get relatively little space.
Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
His second book, a follow-up to the memoir, also published by Random House.
If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?
A book on communication, published by Random House, drawn from his work helping scientists explain their research to the rest of us, the work behind the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, founded in 2009.
In What Order to Read Alan Alda
Read the first two in order: Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is his follow-up to the memoir.
If I Understood You stands on its own. It is a practical book about communication rather than a memoir, so it can be read first if that is the subject you came for.
A reading path
1. Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2005)
2. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (2007)
3. If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? (2017)
The years · 1936–2017
Quick facts about Alan Alda
- Known for
- Alan Alda is known for playing Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H and for his work on how scientists communicate with the public.
- 1936
- Born in New York City
- 1972
- M*A*S*H begins
- 1993
- Hosts Scientific American Frontiers
- Born
- Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo, 28 January 1936, New York City; son of the actor Robert Alda
- Television
- Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H, 1972–1983
- Science
- Host of Scientific American Frontiers on PBS, 1993–2005
- Founded
- The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, Stony Brook University, 2009
- Health
- Made his Parkinson’s diagnosis public in 2018
- Books
- Three, 2005–2017
The red mark is 2005: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, his memoir.
How Alan Alda Writes: Stories That Make a Point
Alda’s first book is direct from its first line, about his mother’s mental illness, and spends more time on his family than on his fame: M*A*S*H gets relatively little space.
His second book, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, followed two years after the memoir, with the same publisher.
The third book applies his experience to a practical problem, how to be understood, and draws on his work with scientists. For more on communication, see the reading list on communication; for scientists who wrote for a general audience, see the guide to Carl Sagan.
Watch
Alan Alda on communication
Alan Alda talks to PBS NewsHour in 2017 about communication and connection, the subject of his book If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?
Frequently asked questions about Alan Alda’s books
How many books has Alan Alda written?
Three: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2005), Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (2007) and If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? (2017).
What are Alan Alda’s books in order?
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed (2005), Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (2007) and If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? (2017).
Where should I start with Alan Alda?
With Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, his memoir. If you are interested in communication rather than his life, start with If I Understood You.
What is Alan Alda’s most famous book?
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned (2005), his memoir.
Does Alan Alda write about M*A*S*H?
Briefly. Never Have Your Dog Stuffed mentions his years as Hawkeye Pierce, but most of the book is about his childhood and family rather than the series.
What is If I Understood You about?
Communication. It draws on Alda’s work helping scientists explain their research to a general audience.
Does Alan Alda have Parkinson’s?
Yes. He announced his diagnosis on CBS This Morning on 31 July 2018, saying he had been diagnosed three years earlier.
Footnotes
- Alan Alda — Wikipedia
- Never Have Your Dog Stuffed — Bookreporter review
- If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? — Random House
- Alan Alda’s experiment helping scientists learn to talk to the rest of us — NPR via Michigan Public
- Alan Alda, Connecticut College, 1980 — NPR commencement speeches
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.
“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.”
— Alan Alda, commencement address at Connecticut College (1980)
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations