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bibliobrujx's review
3.0
This was such a quick read. I couldn't stop reading through this book, shaking my head in wonder at Miranda July's ability to take on the most awkward or intimate interactions with people. You will thoroughly enjoy getting to know each person that she introduces.
nandanz's review
4.0
“It wasn’t just movies that couldn’t contain the full cast of characters – it was us. We had to winnow life down so we knew where to put our tenderness and attention; and that was a good, sweet thing. But together or alone, we were still embedded in a kaleidoscope, ruthlessly varied and continuous, until the end of the end. I knew I would forget this within the hour, and then remember, and forget, and remember. Each time I remembered it would be a tiny miracle, and forgetting was just as important – I had to believe in my own story.”
abbeyjfox's review
5.0
File this under: read in one sitting, crying in public, the best sort of book about the human condition.
lfagundes's review
4.0
Miranda July;s work manages to make me feel depressed and creepy at the same time.
this is a good thing.
in this book she does a good job of delving into the little sadness-es and realities and joys of regular, if slightly strange, people who place ads in the penny saver.
the last guy, Joe, actually ended up making it into her movie The Future, which was also depressing and a little bit creepy.
Joe's story is achingly touching. actually, they all kind of make your heart ache a little bit. all these people just trying to get by. and miranda july is just trying to get by too.
it's a lonely book, but it's lonely in that communal way, where you realize that sometimes we're all lonely, in the same way. it's like, the human condition and shit.
this is a good thing.
in this book she does a good job of delving into the little sadness-es and realities and joys of regular, if slightly strange, people who place ads in the penny saver.
the last guy, Joe, actually ended up making it into her movie The Future, which was also depressing and a little bit creepy.
Joe's story is achingly touching. actually, they all kind of make your heart ache a little bit. all these people just trying to get by. and miranda july is just trying to get by too.
it's a lonely book, but it's lonely in that communal way, where you realize that sometimes we're all lonely, in the same way. it's like, the human condition and shit.
p0tat0's review
5.0
I absolutely love Miranda July's mind and I wish she did nothing but talk to strangers and write about it.
courtney_mcallister's review
5.0
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.