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nixiethepixie's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
an exploration of creativity, connection and story, through the guise of interviewing individuals from pennysavers. miranda july interviews individuals, and assembles a journal x transcript x personal reflections upon each encounter. the book is not only made up of interviews, but also july's process amidst writing her second screenplay. we hear a lot of her self-referential reflections and questions for process, the project and life. lucky she's a charmer, otherwise it could come across as indulgent. perhaps it does to some.
brigette sire's photographs are beautiful and nostalgic, a perfect accompaniment and insight into the lives of these individuals.
albeit, i wonder how much each individual was paid, and do hope they were compensated adequately, for their stories are used to fuel this book, imaginations and hearts. things like this always carry an ethical question with them.
brigette sire's photographs are beautiful and nostalgic, a perfect accompaniment and insight into the lives of these individuals.
albeit, i wonder how much each individual was paid, and do hope they were compensated adequately, for their stories are used to fuel this book, imaginations and hearts. things like this always carry an ethical question with them.
srogan88's review against another edition
3.0
3.75* I suppose? I may rate it higher if not for its loose association with her movie, as explained below.
This was an interesting book in two different ways.
1. The primary concept of this book - the author visiting and interviewing random people she contacts from the PennySaver - is well-done. If you take the book at face value, it's an entertaining read. Each visit is presented as its own chapter and the people she meets are unique, complex characters. She's very gentle and respectful of their stories and lives, taking care to focus on what makes them special and positive, even when visits become uncomfortable. The photos of the people and their homes/objects really add to the experience.
2. The secondary theme in this book pertains to how each of these visits affects the author both as a person and in her creative process in writing her screenplay at the time. I'm always fascinated to see how other people work so this theme was of great interest to me.
I saw the movie the author was writing, The Future, a couple of years ago. And, to be frank, I hated it. It was off-the-wall in ways I didn't enjoy and very sad as well. I disliked it so much that when I realized a few pages into the book that the reason the author's name had sounded familiar was because she wrote that movie, I was tempted to put the book down.
But her writing style and story-telling skills are very accessible. Almost enough so that I briefly considered rewatching the movie after finishing the book. Briefly considered and quickly vetoed.
If I hadn't seen the movie, I'd rate this 4*. And it would probably make me want to watch the movie. And then I'd come back and unfairly downgrade my rating to about 2*.
This was an interesting book in two different ways.
1. The primary concept of this book - the author visiting and interviewing random people she contacts from the PennySaver - is well-done. If you take the book at face value, it's an entertaining read. Each visit is presented as its own chapter and the people she meets are unique, complex characters. She's very gentle and respectful of their stories and lives, taking care to focus on what makes them special and positive, even when visits become uncomfortable. The photos of the people and their homes/objects really add to the experience.
2. The secondary theme in this book pertains to how each of these visits affects the author both as a person and in her creative process in writing her screenplay at the time. I'm always fascinated to see how other people work so this theme was of great interest to me.
I saw the movie the author was writing, The Future, a couple of years ago. And, to be frank, I hated it. It was off-the-wall in ways I didn't enjoy and very sad as well. I disliked it so much that when I realized a few pages into the book that the reason the author's name had sounded familiar was because she wrote that movie, I was tempted to put the book down.
But her writing style and story-telling skills are very accessible. Almost enough so that I briefly considered rewatching the movie after finishing the book. Briefly considered and quickly vetoed.
If I hadn't seen the movie, I'd rate this 4*. And it would probably make me want to watch the movie. And then I'd come back and unfairly downgrade my rating to about 2*.
valariesmith's review
5.0
A lovely, heartfelt, moving book that reminds us how much we need each other, and how the only thing worse than losing people is to never have had them in our lives at all. This is the first time in decades that I cried at the ending of a book, yet it was life-affirming and beautiful. The best book I've read in a long time.
whitneyborup's review
5.0
I loved this as much as I loved the movie that it inspired/came from. Miranda July writes sweetly and genuinely and always makes me cry. I wish we were besties, but not really because I might be jealous all the time. I liked the bright orange end paper, too. It turned my hand orange while I read it.
kewlpinguino's review
4.0
3.5. I've had kind of a rough week. I've been really anxious and obsessive and it was just an unpleasant few days. This book was nice and sobering I read at such a time, because July has that New Sincerity tenderness about her.
melissabalick's review
4.0
This is really a delight of a book. It's better than her book of short stories, and as good as her movie Me, You, and Everyone We Know.
It's almost hard to believe that everyone Miranda July met and interviewed after they'd placed "for sale" ads in the Pennysaver were such interesting people, but, really, I think that this book demonstrates a couple important lessons:
1. Everyone is interesting if you give him or her the chance to talk.
2. People who agree to an interview probably want to talk.
3. If you transcribe a conversation exactly, it's going to feel, well, really compellingly real.
I love to talk to strangers, and this idea of getting a sliver of time and biographical conversation from the lives of others is incredibly appealing to me. There is so much paranoia in this day and age. People think everything is dangerous, except the things that actually are dangerous, like eating meat and dairy and driving cars. Lots of folks would say that Ms. July shouldn't have entered strangers' homes at all, even accompanied by a photographer. But, with everyone she met, she only really felt creeped out by one, and their meeting is one of the most philosophically interesting sections of the book (she says that she has the desire to make him feel she understands him, but not to actually understand him). There was one other guy who had a mannequin made to look like a soap opera actress he liked, but other than that, the Pennysaver sellers were all just regular people who aren't computer-literate enough to use Craigslist. Even those creepier people were no threat to her. There is, perhaps, another important lesson to be gleamed here:
4. Even creepy people probably have no intention of hurting you.
But perhaps the greatest lesson of all in the book is this:
5. Some people are creepy. Most people are middling, with at least a modicum of something interesting to offer, but nothing too extraordinary. But very few people are as bright of a spot on this Earth as Miranda July. Her personality and art just bursts from her, even when she's got writer's block. She's weird and cool and decent, and she's got a sharp interest in things most others ignore, and it helps the rest of us to notice them too, and we can sort of view them through her eyes. It makes the world a better place.
God bless you, Miranda July.
It's almost hard to believe that everyone Miranda July met and interviewed after they'd placed "for sale" ads in the Pennysaver were such interesting people, but, really, I think that this book demonstrates a couple important lessons:
1. Everyone is interesting if you give him or her the chance to talk.
2. People who agree to an interview probably want to talk.
3. If you transcribe a conversation exactly, it's going to feel, well, really compellingly real.
I love to talk to strangers, and this idea of getting a sliver of time and biographical conversation from the lives of others is incredibly appealing to me. There is so much paranoia in this day and age. People think everything is dangerous, except the things that actually are dangerous, like eating meat and dairy and driving cars. Lots of folks would say that Ms. July shouldn't have entered strangers' homes at all, even accompanied by a photographer. But, with everyone she met, she only really felt creeped out by one, and their meeting is one of the most philosophically interesting sections of the book (she says that she has the desire to make him feel she understands him, but not to actually understand him). There was one other guy who had a mannequin made to look like a soap opera actress he liked, but other than that, the Pennysaver sellers were all just regular people who aren't computer-literate enough to use Craigslist. Even those creepier people were no threat to her. There is, perhaps, another important lesson to be gleamed here:
4. Even creepy people probably have no intention of hurting you.
But perhaps the greatest lesson of all in the book is this:
5. Some people are creepy. Most people are middling, with at least a modicum of something interesting to offer, but nothing too extraordinary. But very few people are as bright of a spot on this Earth as Miranda July. Her personality and art just bursts from her, even when she's got writer's block. She's weird and cool and decent, and she's got a sharp interest in things most others ignore, and it helps the rest of us to notice them too, and we can sort of view them through her eyes. It makes the world a better place.
God bless you, Miranda July.
petersonline's review
5.0
Loved this book! Fantastically Bizarre and Very Witty. I love the way Miranda July writes, she can spin a good tale, while adding some dark humor in there for spice. July is a creative genius and hope to see more from her!