I first read this collection three or four years ago–I’m guessing when it first came out in paperback, but I can’t say for sure (I really need to start dating my books after I’ve finished them). Well, at the time, let’s guess that I was probably a naive freshman in college, I remember being shocked by some of these stories, maybe even a little repulsed by some of the characters. I didn’t dislike the collection, but I finished it, thought it was weird, and put it back on my shelf. Let’s chalk that up to my naivete and the fact that I probably bought it because my 18 year old self thought it’d be cool to read a book by indie filmmaker and artist Miranda July.
Last Sunday when I was getting ready for work, I spotted it above my desk and suddenly felt the urge to pick it up and re-read it. So I did. I re-read the entire collection in one afternoon, and I’ve re-evaluated my college freshman assessment. Certainly July’s characters are quirky, as anyone who knows her work might expect. And no doubt there is something a little bit repulsive about some of them, but then you realize, that what’s repulsive are their faults, and those faults are so human–things like the inability to leave your house sometimes no matter how much you want to, miming happiness with your significant other, having a birthmark removed because everyone says “she’s so beautiful except for…” and then missing that part of yourself that you got rid of because of some silly societal standards that you’re not even sure you agree with. These are struggles that I think we usually internalize and because we so rarely see them outside of ourselves, maybe we recoil a little when someone has put them out in the open as July does in this collection.
But to put it simply, I think these stories are wonderful and weird and sad. They make you feel a little bit lonely, but they also make you feel like you’re not alone in your loneliness and so it’s okay.
Miranda July is a performance artist, writer, actress, musician, and film director (yes, she does it all). She starred in and directed the film Me and You and
Everyone We Know (2005) as well as The Future, which debuted at Sundance this year. July is also one of the founders of the online arts community Learning to Love You More. Find out more about her and her work on her website here. -Kaycie
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