LoveReading Says
A bruisingly vibrant and freeing novel that gives incredibly intimate access to an artist as she journeys into mid-life changes. A planned road-trip from Los Angeles to New York is derailed thirty minutes in and becomes a fascinating exploration of self. Miranda July is an author who has the most considered and compassionate touch as she deliberately prods innermost thoughts and encourages your mind to expand and explore. I first met her unique voice in 2015 with the 16 wonderfully thought-provoking short stories in No One Belongs Here More Than You. She has developed a wryly pointed humour paired with a smart eloquence, ensuring a balance is achieved when she delves into, and far beyond accepted norms. There were parts of this novel where I felt as though I was reading about myself, elsewhere as though I was entering forbidden territory. That is the joy of the writing here, the narrator simultaneously shared her secret with me while broadcasting to the world. Focusing on all things woman is the strength of this tale, from changing bodies to relationships, sex, innermost thoughts and feelings. I just had to include this as not only a Liz Pick of the Month but also a LoveReading Star Book. All Fours is a brilliantly vibrant and provocative novel that contains a steely strength, highly recommended.
Liz Robinson
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All Fours Synopsis
A 2024 BOOK OF THE YEAR PICK FOR BBC R4 OPEN BOOK, THE OBSERVER, GQ, GRAZIA, HERO, I-D, NYLON
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, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of 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 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations 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 This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781838853440 |
| Publication date: |
16th May 2024 |
| Author: |
Miranda July |
| Publisher: |
Canongate Books |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
336 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Miranda July Press Reviews
A giddy, bold, mind-blowing tour de force by one of our most important literary writers. Funny, honest, rich with the energy of the mind, All Fours will jump-start your relation to language and cause you to think anew about the nature of desire -- GEORGE SAUNDERS
All Fours is profound and bawdy and deeply human, a brilliant work of art from a completely blown open and fearless mind -- EMMA CLINE
I found myself reading All Fours in solitude because as I read, I'd started making sounds that were recognizably laughter but were also expulsions of heartbreak and what I'll call a cleansing sorrow . . . If the United States had the good sense to name National Treasures, I'd nominate Miranda July -- MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM
More Praise for Miranda July: 'Wry, smart . . . exceptional -- LAUREN GROFF
One of the most original voices to appear in fiction -- DAVE EGGERS
Leaves one thrillingly breathless -- LORRIE MOORE
I am in awe of Miranda July -- AM HOMES
About Miranda July
Miranda July is a filmmaker, artist and writer. Her collection of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and has been published in twenty-three countries. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harper's and The New Yorker; It Chooses You was her first book of non-fiction. She wrote, directed and starred in The Future and Me and You and Everyone We Know - winner of the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. July's participatory art includes the website Learning to Love You More (with artist Harrell Fletcher), Eleven Heavy Things (a sculpture garden created for the 2009 Venice Biennale), New Society (a performance), and Somebody (a messaging app.) Raised in Berkeley, California, July lives in Los Angeles. www.mirandajuly.com Follow @Miranda_July on Twitter
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