‘Dear Mr. You’ by Mary-Louise Parker: Author writes letters to the men that matter

Mary-Louise Parker, an award-winning actress, makes a successful contribution to literature through her book, Dear Mr. You. The book consists of 34 letters, which Parker addresses to real and hypothetical men who have impacted her life.

With the wave of feminism in the modern era, you might expect this tome to indulge in a little man-bashing, due to its ambiguous title. However, the book turns out to be completely the opposite. The beauty of this book is that it consists of both — letters to do with major events like a birth, death or break-up, as well as letters to people who are kind and make important contributions, yet go unnoticed and are eventually forgotten. For example, she goes to the extent of writing a letter to a 9/11 firefighter.

She even writes letters to people who do not yet exist, such as “Dear Future Man Who Loves My Daughter”. Parker in 2007 adopted an Ethiopian girl, Caroline Aberash Parker.

Some letters are serious, yet lighthearted, such as her letter to her grandfather whom she never met. Although her grandfather died before she was born, she knows a lot about him from the “many stories that are told and retold within the family.” She describes his cleverness in the kitchen and how delightful it was for him to prepare his special meals.

Her letter to her own father was poignant, showing how much she misses having him in her life: “To convey in any existing language how I miss you isn’t possible. It would be like blue trying to describe the ocean...”

There were also some humorous letters, such as the letter to the goat and the oyster-picker.

Parker does not tell us about her day job as an actress throughout the book, and there are no self-congratulatory or conceited phrases. We see that Parker is actually humble and struggles on a personal level, despite her success as a thespian. She does not shy away from revealing herself throughout a range of human emotion, from insecurity, personal loss and illness, to the joys of romance, friendship, motherhood and daughter-hood. This helps the reader connect, and even sympathise, with her.

Despite the interesting content of the book, there is a slight problem with voice. The letters are obviously written in second person as she addresses the men, hence the title Dear Mr. You.

Sometimes Parker addresses the reader as “you” in the middle of a letter. Since both the person she is directing the letter to and the reader are referred to in second person, it sometimes becomes a little confusing for the reader. Nevertheless, the fact that she addresses the reader in the middle of such personal letters makes it even more cosy and personal.

Now that Parker has achieved great success with her Dear Mr. You, shall we expect to see Dear Ms. You in the future? Time will tell.

— The writer is a student at the American University of Sharjah. Read more student work at 360 Newsbeat.