Books & Audiobooks
Miranda July’s latest book All Fours is an intriguing exploration of what being in your forties looks like for one woman. It is also a real buzz read of the summer: The New York Times* even recently published the article “The Women Rethinking Marriage and Family Life Because of Miranda July” by Alyson Krueger. July is a renaissance woman who uses many different media as her canvas; she is a celebrated filmmaker, actress and author. The lead character in All Fours has a similar professional background; like July, is a mother and wife; and in the novel, she grapples with perimenopause and the social norms of marriage and motherhood.
The oddly intriguing premise of the book is that the unnamed lead character is set to drive across the country from L.A. to New York City solo, leaving her husband and child at home as a sort of moment of self-discovery in her life. Only, she ends up “finding herself” 30 minutes away from home, as she erases her plans and checks into a roadside motel. While still pretending to her husband that she is crossing the country, she ends up spending her entire three weeks there. The amusing tales continues as she takes on redecorating her motel room, meets a new, younger man and sets out to examine many aspects of her current life.
If you have ever watched one of July’s films, you will know that she presents quirky, artistic, soulful and sometimes not entirely likeable characters. Her world is a very distinct one—i.e., the L.A. art scene, and an upper middle class, liberal-minded family—but she also demonstrates moments that many can connect to, in terms of parenting and being a spouse. Never naming the primary character allows the reader to more easily step into her shoes as well.
I highly recommend All Fours as I motored through this as my cottage read. If you enjoy a book that is offbeat and eccentric but still a great story with some distinctly beautiful prose, this one might be for you too.
*Did you know you could access The New York Times with your WPL card? Learn more on the Online Resources page.