Our February Book is All Fours by Miranda July. This book was last summer's literary and critical breakout hit. It got nominated for the National Book Award. Seems to be a somewhat-comic novel about a wife and mother who gets bored of her life, embarks on a road trip, starts sleeping with another guy, and engages in all kinds of other shenanigans. Has sold several hundreds of thousands of copies. Several Ruby members have told us it's quite good.
Miranda July is a film-maker, writer, and performance artist--something of a sui generis figure in the world of letters, honestly. Until this book was published, she was somewhat (but not excessively) famous. Now she's probably slightly more famous, but still not exactly Stephen King.
Grab a copy from the local library or from a local bookstore. We'll discuss together!
About All Fours
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.
Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
About Miranda July
Miranda July is a writer, filmmaker, and artist. Her debut novel, The First Bad Man, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and her collection of stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harper’s, and The New Yorker. July lives in Los Angeles.