Book review: Dear Mr You, a memoir from award-winning actress Mary-Louise Parker, is absorbingly original

The memoir Dear Mr You, is award winning-actress Mary-Louise Parker's first book. Courtesy Simon & Schuster​

Dear Mr You

Mary-Louise Parker

Scribner

Dh92

Mary-Louise Parker is best known for her acting – with roles in television dramas Weeds, The West Wing and Angels in America and movies such as Fried Green Tomatoes and Red – but she also has a pretty impressive byline. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications, but Dear Mr You is her first book.

Parker takes readers on a biographical journey through a series of letters written to the men in her life. They include family members, co-workers, friends – and strangers. Each character represents a significant time in Parker’s life. She shares intimate details of lost love, the beginnings of her acting career and cherished moments with her children.

Whether it’s a loin-cloth-wearing surfer dude or a New York City fireman, Parker is able to introduce another piece of her personal timeline in a creative way.

Readers will be drawn into her epic tale of the day her son was born. Hearts will melt when The Neighbor shows up for a visit. Tears will flow when the details of her daughter’s adoption unfold after a trip to Ethiopia. And you can bet your heart will race when you read about the great lengths a daughter went through to secure oysters for her ailing father.

Dear Mr You is a colourful anthology of funny, lonely and poignant moments from one woman's life. Her biographical approach is extremely innovative. Parker takes a hard look at the men in her life to analyse their effect on the woman she is today. And that woman is complex, compassionate, loving and talented.