(For the film based on the book, see Marley & Me (film).) Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog is an autobiographical book by journalist John Grogan, published in 2005, about the 13 years he and his family spent with their yellow Labrador Retriever, Marley. The dog is poorly behaved and destructive, and the book covers the issues this causes in the family as they learn to accept him in addition to their grief following Marley's death. It was subsequently adapted by the author into three separate books, as well as into a comedy-drama film released in 2008.