Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
I absolutely love Miranda July's mind and I wish she did nothing but talk to strangers and write about it.
Miranda July can be excessively precocious and twee, but I tend to enjoy her writing. In It Chooses You, July finds the perfect outlet for her navel-gazing tendencies. By compulsively interviewing people who have placed ads in LA's PennySaver, she finds a way to connect to other people, while also reflecting on the bizarre (often awkward) dynamic between herself and these strangers. The accompanying photographs are very apt and provocative.
The project brings up a whole panoply of topics and memorable moments. I especially enjoyed July's commentary on technological isolation. When the PennySaver eventually disappears into the cloud, what physical artifacts will be left to connect random strangers to one another? She also makes a point of asking most of the interviewees if they use computers (most don't), just to illustrate how technological progress threatens to deepen the separation between haves and have-nots.
While July still has a tendency to get trapped in her own head, instead of responding directly to what is going on around her, she tries to resist that pattern and effectively incorporates her struggle into It Chooses You. On some level, the whole project can be interpreted as a meditation on the differences between digital interaction (internal, self-contained) and live, physical interaction (raw, unpredictable, often awkward). Regardless, It Chooses You creates a very moving reading experience. It's one of those rare books that makes the world open up just a little.
The project brings up a whole panoply of topics and memorable moments. I especially enjoyed July's commentary on technological isolation. When the PennySaver eventually disappears into the cloud, what physical artifacts will be left to connect random strangers to one another? She also makes a point of asking most of the interviewees if they use computers (most don't), just to illustrate how technological progress threatens to deepen the separation between haves and have-nots.
While July still has a tendency to get trapped in her own head, instead of responding directly to what is going on around her, she tries to resist that pattern and effectively incorporates her struggle into It Chooses You. On some level, the whole project can be interpreted as a meditation on the differences between digital interaction (internal, self-contained) and live, physical interaction (raw, unpredictable, often awkward). Regardless, It Chooses You creates a very moving reading experience. It's one of those rare books that makes the world open up just a little.
My review can be found here (it's bias, I love her):
http://booksandbowelmovements.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/its-chosen-me/
http://booksandbowelmovements.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/its-chosen-me/
A book about the quirky people who attempt to sell things through the Pennysaver. I would have enjoyed it more if it focused solely on these fascinating lives instead of swerving back periodically to the author's own narrative.
Miranda July was recommended to me years ago by a close friend that I no longer speak to. It has ended up to be one of the most valuable literary introductions I have received.
This book blends many of July's talents. Authenticity, commentart on the absurdity and uncertainty of the world, absolutely perfectly-delivered wisdom in humor, and more. But it also brings the realities of other people's lives and thought processes front and center through interviews and photography.
It is an interesting concept for a book, and i'm sure what that means becomes more understandable once you've read the book. Regardless, I will continue to read anything that Miranda July creates, recommend it to those I believe will appreciate it, and continue to think about the person who recommended it to me all those years ago.
This book blends many of July's talents. Authenticity, commentart on the absurdity and uncertainty of the world, absolutely perfectly-delivered wisdom in humor, and more. But it also brings the realities of other people's lives and thought processes front and center through interviews and photography.
It is an interesting concept for a book, and i'm sure what that means becomes more understandable once you've read the book. Regardless, I will continue to read anything that Miranda July creates, recommend it to those I believe will appreciate it, and continue to think about the person who recommended it to me all those years ago.
If you're the type of person who calls Miranda July's work "precious" in the most negative way possible, then you'll probably say the same thing about this little book. But if you're like me, and tend to think that Miranda July is a genius, and that her first feature film (I haven't seen the second!) and her debut story collection were brilliant, then It Chooses You is well worth a few hours of your time. The concept--using Pennysaver circular ads to find people who've been left off the grid of the internet--is interesting enough. In the hands of July, it becomes moving and heartfelt (what the haters call "precious"). The ending blew me away.
For anyone who enjoys Miranda July, this book is worth the money for the photos alone. But if you're already anti-Miranda, you should give this one a pass as well.
For anyone who enjoys Miranda July, this book is worth the money for the photos alone. But if you're already anti-Miranda, you should give this one a pass as well.
This is a fun romp through LA. It's not billed as the same kind of project as July's prose, and it really isn't. It is-and it feels like-a side project, which she is totally honest about from go. Still I was hoping for more. I'm writing this to let you know not to do that.
After reading 'No One Belongs Here More Than You' and watching Me and You and Everyone We Know, I was horribly disappointed by 'It Chooses You.' I was in love with the concept before I started reading: Miranda July plucks people from the Penny Savers and then visits them in their home to learn more about their life. I think everyone is a little nosey about what goes on in other people's lives. Disappointment sets in though when I realize that it's not just an interview and essay on the person, it was also filled with her own personal judgements of each person's financial status (she describes a woman's home as a FEMA-like encampment), their appearance (a woman is described as having the confidence but not the face of a pretty woman), and the stories they trusted her to tell. I can't help but wonder if these people would have ever let themselves be interviewed by July if they knew how horribly unflattering she would have portrayed her to be. Each encounter she has with a person from the Penny Saver made her seem more and more privileged and unaffected by the incredible stories she was hearing. Instead of taking each story and pulling something from them, she judged them and used their stories as a diving board for her own 'problems' and self-realization. It also didn't seem like she much enjoyed doing this project either. At one point, a woman is showing off her aviary, and July drifts into thought about how she should go to Mexico because she's always wanted to go there. Nothing prompted this!
I did think that Joe got the best treatment of all of them, and I did cry during his segment--especially because July actually wrote about him and treated him like the wonderful human being that he was. If she could have used the same tender approach with the other interviewees that she had with Joe, 'It Chooses You' would have been a beautiful collection of stories about every day human life. Instead, it sadly fell flat, which made me sad because I am usually a fan of her work and unique approach.
I did think that Joe got the best treatment of all of them, and I did cry during his segment--especially because July actually wrote about him and treated him like the wonderful human being that he was. If she could have used the same tender approach with the other interviewees that she had with Joe, 'It Chooses You' would have been a beautiful collection of stories about every day human life. Instead, it sadly fell flat, which made me sad because I am usually a fan of her work and unique approach.
Disregard anything you've ever thought about Miranda July and read this book.