Miranda July
About Miranda July
Speaking videos
Books by Miranda July
“All Fours” (2024)
All Fours
“The First Bad Man: A Novel” (2015)
The instant New York Times bestseller is “astonishing…In one novel, Miranda July tells us more about our universal need to be loved, and our ability to love and be loved, than most earthbound authors will in a lifetime” (Vanity Fair).In The First Bad Man, Miranda July tells the story of Cheryl, a vulnerable, uptight woman in her early forties who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat, unable to cry. Cheryl is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six; she also believes she has a profound connection with Phillip, a philandering board member at Open Palm, the women’s self-defense studio where she has worked for twenty years.When Cheryl’s bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl’s eccentrically ordered world explodes. And yet it is Clee—the selfish, cruel blond bombshell—who teaches Cheryl what it means to love and be loved and, inadvertently, provides the solace of a lifetime.“Brilliant, hilarious, irreverent, piercing—The First Bad Man powers past sexual boundaries and gender identification into the surprising galaxy of primal connection” (O, The Oprah Magazine).This is a spectacularly original, unsettling, accomplished, and moving first novel with a tender and beguiling happy ending.
“It Chooses You” (2012)
In the summer of 2009 Miranda July was struggling to write her second screenplay, The Future, when she began to obsessively read the PennySaver classified ads. The iconic Los Angeles newsprint booklet served a computerless demographic—a quickly disappearing group, but one rife with stories. Who was the person selling the LARGE LEATHER JACKET, $10 OR BEST OFFER? It seemed important to find out, or, at least it was a great distraction from the screenplay.Working with photographer Brigitte Sire, July interviewed thirteen PennySaver sellers to create portraits of their surprisingly moving, profoundly specific realities. Among these was Joe, an energetic 82-year-old with his own sweetly perverse body of artwork. By the end of the summer, July had written Joe into the movie as himself and the voice of the moon. July reveals her hilariously random and blindly faithful creative process as we travel with her all over the city, and eventually to the set of The Future (in theaters in July). Combining narrative, interviews, and photographs, this book tells the story not only of the making of a movie in Los Angeles, but of the city itself.
“No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories” (2008)
“These delightful stories do that essential-but-rare story thing: they surprise. They skip past the quotidian, the merely real, to the essential, and do so with a spirit of tenderness and wonder that is wholly unique. They are (let me coin a phrase) July-esque, which is to say: infused with wonder at the things of the world.” —George Saunders, author of Tenth of DecemberAward-winning filmmaker and performing artist Miranda July brings her extraordinary talents to the page in a startling, sexy, and tender collection. In these stories, July gives the most seemingly insignificant moments a sly potency. A benign encounter, a misunderstanding, a shy revelation can reconfigure the world. Her characters engage awkwardly—they are sometimes too remote, sometimes too intimate. With great compassion and generosity, July reveals their idiosyncrasies and the odd logic and longing that govern their lives. No One Belongs Here More Than You is a stunning debut, the work of a writer with a spectacularly original and compelling voice.
“Learning to Love You More” (2007)
In a world obsessed with 'reality' programming, the collaborative public art project known as "Learning To Love You More" offers a refreshing take on how people think, act and love. Created by Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher, the web-based project, begun in 2002, offers more than sixty 'assignments' that can be completed by anyone: 'Write the phone conversation you wish you could have'; 'Draw a constellation from someone's freckles'; 'Take a flash photo under your bed.' Completed assignments are posted on the web site; to date, more than 5,000 people have participated - artists and non-artists of all ages, from Tokyo to Tel Aviv. July and Fletcher have curated a selection of the most memorable submissions - some moving, others hilarious and oddly brilliant, to create a pop culture collage that tells a larger story about life today. The result is an engaging, heartwarming, idea sparking book sure to inspire, teach, and entertain. Her film "Me And You And Everyone We Know" (Film Four) was a cult hit in 2005 - it won 15 Awards including the Golden Camera at Cannes and the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the Sundance film festival.
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