I first became familiar with Miranda July through her films Me, You, and Everyone We Know. Immediately, I was struck by her quirk. When her first book of short stories came out, I found an author who wrote about the spaces my brain often visits. Still, with her newest novel, Miranda July reveals the inner workings of a woman with the curious nature of a child, distracted by a new awareness: a shiny toy. At first, I was taken by the tone in which Miranda wrote her protagonist, never revealing the narrator’s name. This allowed me to connect to them by sliding into their skin and seeing the world through their eyes. Her leaps of logic make sense whether a debate about the justified enslavement of pets to the rationel of redecorating a hotel room for an unplanned extended stay or how she breaks down perimenopause like an older sister preparing us for what our parents never did. For fans of The Alchemist and people who have craved a Little Prince as a cis-female, punk-rock Gen Xer in her mid-life, this may be something you could enjoy. I will say the language is beautiful and raunchy, so consider yourself forewarned.
I tend to read novels and reimagine them as short fiction, and All Fours reads like three novellas with a longer than creative non-fiction essay at the end. In Part I, you taste the absurd adventure with our main character interacting with strangers in a strange place. Part II is very grounded: a discovery of the body with touching, heartbreaking honesty as her life unfolds. In Part III comes the reckoning and the point where the story unfolds like a flower. Part Four is the hard-earned resolve. This novel is an earth-shattering glimpse of the human ability to manage oneself while enduring an oft-under-examined hormonal unraveling, but also so much more than that. It is ravishing and relatable. It is worth the read because it was executed with care. A+
I hope that July’s most recent installment in the literary world will make more space for quirk from various faces and backgrounds. I hope this type of story becomes the new norm—raw, untethered, and perversely creative—so writers can be empowered to play with fringe characters with storylines that deserve the limelight.
My favorite line from the book:
“I was so good at knowing what I wanted and then choosing something else at the very last second.” relatable.
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