Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
This was so very genuine. Heart-breaking at times, laugh out loud funny at others. There were some stories that made me very uncomfortable and I had to stop reading for a time but those simply added to the book as an experience. This was wonderful. A must-read for everyone.
My favorites were to Father Bob, The Man Who Will Love My Daughter, and Oyster Picker. These are mainly for my future reference.
My favorites were to Father Bob, The Man Who Will Love My Daughter, and Oyster Picker. These are mainly for my future reference.
Sigh. Some people get all the talent. Mary Louise Parker is not only an accomplished actress, but she's a very fine writer, and a lovely human being. This book appears to be a memoir, written to various men in Parker's life. She has a wonderful voice—the book really took off for me around Chapter 12. And she is a reliable, and lovable, narrator.
A memoir of the actress's life told as a series of letters to various people, not necessarily the people you expect. For example, she tells the story of the birth of her son in a letter to the orderly who tried unsuccessfully to take him to the nursery the night he was born. Others are people she's never met, people she's only met in passing, or ex-lovers or crushes. This is not a celebrity vanity project; Parker is a keenly observant sophisticated writer and her book is full of life in all its splendor - humor, heartache, bad mistakes, chance coincidences.
[I received an e-galley of this book through Netgalley.]
[I received an e-galley of this book through Netgalley.]
2016 reading challenge - a book written by a celebrity
received a copy of this book from a goodreads giveaway! this was an interesting read, really different to any celebrity memoir i've read before. parker creates second person vignettes directed to different men/male figures she's encountered in her life. the writing was at times beautiful and at other times overly complicated. i never really felt connected to parker as a narrator (until the very end) which was an issue for me. the highlights were definitely the chapters about her father and the part where she stabbed an ex boyfriend in the hand with a fork for eating off her plate.
received a copy of this book from a goodreads giveaway! this was an interesting read, really different to any celebrity memoir i've read before. parker creates second person vignettes directed to different men/male figures she's encountered in her life. the writing was at times beautiful and at other times overly complicated. i never really felt connected to parker as a narrator (until the very end) which was an issue for me. the highlights were definitely the chapters about her father and the part where she stabbed an ex boyfriend in the hand with a fork for eating off her plate.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I was supposed to be seeing Mary-Louise Parker bring back her role in my very favorite play, How I Learned to Drive, for its Broadway debut this weekend but the worldwide shutdown put an end to those plans.
So instead I decided to finally pick up Dear Mr. You, which I can't believe it took me this long to get to. As a former long-time reader of Esquire, I'm just as enamored of Parker as the writing staff and have read much of what she's written for the magazine.
Her book didn't disappoint. Lovely, poetic, emotional, and funny, it brought me to tears a couple of times. There were a few points where it got a little schmaltzy or she seemed a bit up her own ass, but not enough to detract from the overwhelming goodness of this book.
Recommend to fans of essays, women who love men, or anyone who is a fan of Mary-Louise Parker.
So instead I decided to finally pick up Dear Mr. You, which I can't believe it took me this long to get to. As a former long-time reader of Esquire, I'm just as enamored of Parker as the writing staff and have read much of what she's written for the magazine.
Her book didn't disappoint. Lovely, poetic, emotional, and funny, it brought me to tears a couple of times. There were a few points where it got a little schmaltzy or she seemed a bit up her own ass, but not enough to detract from the overwhelming goodness of this book.
Recommend to fans of essays, women who love men, or anyone who is a fan of Mary-Louise Parker.
Actual Rating: 3.5/5
Hmmm... this book was not quite what I was expecting. I kind of went in to it thinking it would be a little more comical than it actually was. None the less, it was still a good book. Just took a minute to readjust my mood towards it. Now reading the synopsis on GR might not lead you to think this book may be funny, but on the book itself with words like "gut-wrenching" and "hilarious" you can probably see where I got confused. Also being I like her as an actress, I got the humor thing from that as well.
But this book wasn't a complete fail in the funny department. For example:
Pg. 102 - "I wanted to kick you in the shins and make you banana bread"
andddddd
Pg. 223 - "Oysters are trannies"
That one had me dying! And that's the tune I thought this whole book was going to play.
Other than that slight disappoint, it was a very well written book. Very emotional and private and a great glimpse into an wonderful actress' personal life.
One last thing: I would love to thank her or whoever's decision this was - as beautiful as you are Mary Louise Parker, thank you from the bottom of my heart for not slapping your celebritorious mug across the cover.
**To See MORE Reviews Visit: The Nerdy Bookmark: A Not-So-Serious Book Review Blog **
Hmmm... this book was not quite what I was expecting. I kind of went in to it thinking it would be a little more comical than it actually was. None the less, it was still a good book. Just took a minute to readjust my mood towards it. Now reading the synopsis on GR might not lead you to think this book may be funny, but on the book itself with words like "gut-wrenching" and "hilarious" you can probably see where I got confused. Also being I like her as an actress, I got the humor thing from that as well.
But this book wasn't a complete fail in the funny department. For example:
Pg. 102 - "I wanted to kick you in the shins and make you banana bread"
andddddd
Pg. 223 - "Oysters are trannies"
That one had me dying! And that's the tune I thought this whole book was going to play.
Other than that slight disappoint, it was a very well written book. Very emotional and private and a great glimpse into an wonderful actress' personal life.
One last thing: I would love to thank her or whoever's decision this was - as beautiful as you are Mary Louise Parker, thank you from the bottom of my heart for not slapping your celebritorious mug across the cover.
**To See MORE Reviews Visit: The Nerdy Bookmark: A Not-So-Serious Book Review Blog **
Loved listening to this audiobook. Her writing is amazing! I was really blown away. I enjoyed the format as well; kind of a memoir told through letters she’s written to men throughout her life, from abusive exes to a cab driver, her adopted daughter’s uncle to a hospital orderly.
I love celebrity memoirs and this is by far one of my favorites. The book is written as a series of letters to men in Mary-Louis Parker's life. She is a beautiful writer and the letters were funny and warm and sad and lovely. I listened to the audio book which I highly recommend.