Tuesday, September 13, 2016

September Not Fiction Book Discussions

Dear Mr. You by Mary-Louise Parker is another memoir--of sorts--written in the form of letters. Parker writes letters to men as a way of looking back at her life and the people she has encountered along the way who have made a difference in it. These men include those with whom she has had close relationships, such as her grandfather, her father, her son, her mentors, her friends and boyfriends, but also men with whom she had only a brief but significant encounter, such as a cab driver and a hospital orderly, and men she hasn't met, such as the future husband of her daughter. In a profile of Parker for LA Times, interviewer Joy Press reports that "Mary-Louise Parker never intended to write a memoir. In fact, she’s a little freaked that Dear Mr. You is being labeled as one. ‘I feel bad when people say memoir, because who writes a memoir that is only about how they were affected by one gender? The pieces are about me but also . . . not.’” Press notes, “Still, if you look closely at these letters, you’ll find a sidelong portrait of Parker, a mosaic of autobiographical shards.” We get a sense of Parker as a daughter, a mother, a friend, a romantic partner, a student, a professional actor, a writer, and a person making her way in the world.

According to an article in the Toronto Star, Parker and her agent submitted Dear Mr. You to publishers without her name attached.Unlike the publishers who read the manuscript of Dear Mr. You, we read Parker’s book knowing her as a celebrity. What do you expect from a celebrity memoir? Did Parker meet or break these expectations? Which letters stood out for you? Which surprised you? Delighted you? Disappointed you? Left you wanting more information? How does the letter format affect your perception of the stories Parker relates and of Parker herself? How would your perception of Parker and the events of her life differ if she had presented them in a more detailed, chronological, anecdotal narrative? In the profile of Parker for LA Times, Parker told interviewer Joy Press, “To me, this book is a collection of thank-you notes.” Take a moment to think: If you were tasked with writing a book like Dear Mr. You, to whom from your life would you write a thank you letter? Think especially of those people to whom you would not have said “thank you” at the time . . . Care to share?

We enjoyed the Tuesday, September 6, discussion! We hope you will join us Thursday, September 15, at 11:00 a.m. at the West Ashley Branch Library or here on the blog.

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