Author Guide · Memoir
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Mary-Louise Parker has won two Tony Awards, for Proof and The Sound Inside, and is known to television audiences as Nancy Botwin in Weeds. Her only book is not a career memoir at all. Dear Mr. You (2015) tells her life through letters, each addressed to a man who mattered to her, from her father to a priest, a firefighter and a former boyfriend. Scribner published it in November 2015. This guide covers her one book: what it is about and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 key books · 2015–2015 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Mary-Louise Parker has written one book: Dear Mr. You (2015), a memoir in the form of letters to men who shaped her life, beginning with her father. It is the place to start, and the only book there is.
Where to Start with Mary-Louise Parker
If you want her own story
→ Dear Mr. You (2015) — a life told in letters.
If you want short pieces to read one at a time
→ Dear Mr. You (2015) — each letter stands on its own.
Mary-Louise Parker’s Book
Dear Mr. You
A memoir made up of some thirty-four letters, each written to a man who played a part in her life: her father, a lover, a former boyfriend, a priest, a 9/11 firefighter, her accountant, and even a goat. Taken together they cover her family, her relationships and moments from her life, without following a conventional timeline. Published by Scribner in November 2015.
How to Read Mary-Louise Parker
The letters are arranged to be read in sequence, but each is complete in itself, so the book can also be read a letter at a time.
The book says little about Weeds or her stage work; if that is what you are looking for, know that it is a book about people rather than parts.
A reading path
1. Dear Mr. You (2015)
2. The Sound Inside (2019), the Broadway play that won her a second Tony
The years · 1964–2021
Quick facts about Mary-Louise Parker
- Known for
- Two Tony Awards, for Proof and The Sound Inside, the role of Nancy Botwin in Weeds, and a memoir written as letters
- 1964
- Born in Columbia, South Carolina
- 2001
- Tony Award for Proof
- 2015
- Dear Mr. You
- 2021
- Second Tony, for The Sound Inside
- Born
- 2 August 1964, Columbia, South Carolina
- Stage
- Tony Awards for Proof (2001) and The Sound Inside (2021)
- Television
- Angels in America (2003) and Weeds (2005–2012)
- Book
- One: Dear Mr. You (2015)
- Publisher
- Scribner
The red mark is 2015: Dear Mr. You, her only book.
How Mary-Louise Parker Writes: Letters Instead of Chapters
Dear Mr. You replaces the usual memoir chapters with letters. Each one is addressed to a single man, and the story of her life comes out sideways, through what that man said, did or meant to her.
The recipients range from her father and former lovers to people she met only in passing, such as a hospital orderly or a dying boy in a hospital, and even a billy goat and NASA. There is no single narrative and no attempt to cover her career in order.
Because each letter is about another person, the book is less about fame than about the people around her.
Watch
Mary-Louise Parker on Dear Mr. You
Mary-Louise Parker talks to CBS in 2015 about her book Dear Mr. You.
Frequently asked questions about Mary-Louise Parker’s book
How many books has Mary-Louise Parker written?
One: Dear Mr. You (2015).
How many books has Mary-Louise Parker written?
There is only one, Dear Mr. You, published in 2015.
Where should I start with Mary-Louise Parker?
With Dear Mr. You, her only book.
What is Mary-Louise Parker’s most famous book?
Dear Mr. You (2015), her memoir in letters.
What is Dear Mr. You about?
Her life, told through letters to men who were part of it, starting with her father. The letters cover family, love, loss and work rather than following her career in order.
Is Dear Mr. You a memoir?
Yes, but an unusual one: instead of chapters it is a series of letters, each addressed to a different man.
Did Mary-Louise Parker write Dear Mr. You herself?
Yes. The book is credited to her alone, with no co-writer.
Is Dear Mr. You about Weeds?
No. It says little about her television or stage work; it is about people in her life rather than her parts.
Who published Dear Mr. You?
Scribner, in November 2015.
Footnotes
- Mary-Louise Parker — Wikipedia
- Dear Mr. You — Simon & Schuster
- Dear Mary-Louise Parker, You’ve Written a Great Book — NPR, 2015
- Dear Mr. You — Kirkus Reviews
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.
“I don’t believe in endings, happy or sad.”
— Mary-Louise Parker, Dear Mr. You (2015)
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