Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - All Fours

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All Fours by Miranda July

6 reviews

audiofoxy's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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hein's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

1. Miranda July's new novel, All Fours, sat around a while before I picked it up. Pre-publication copies bear the title's release date, sometimes right on the spine. You could sort them chronologically. I sometimes do.

2. And then you can look at your books, and there's no kidding yourself. You've had that one since it came out three years ag0–in fact, a couple months before that, even! You're never going to read it, are you?

3. All Fours, however, was a stylish pleasure. The narrator / protagonist immerses herself in projects, sometimes long-term, sometimes short-term; ranging from quixotic to quotidian.

4. The narrator / protagonist is unnamed, so let's just call her Marcel.

5. After reading the novel's last page, I went swimming. Around lap four, I remembered the Miranda July story about someone teaching themselves to swim, or maybe inventing a stroke, or pretending to swim in front of the mirror.

5. That story was great! It's in No One Belongs Here More than You, which I can safely remove from my shelf because if I'm not going to open it to check the title of that story, I can certainly re-buy it whenever I want it. In the story, as I remember it, a protagonist engages in a very individual, partly physical, personal project. Like Marcel in All Fours!

6. The book–the protagonist?--obsesses on one's authentic self, but thankfully without that word, "authentic." There's been an interesting little run of thought lately, about how maybe the individual isn't even a real thing, or at least worthy of all that post-mid-century existentialist primacy and valorization and stuff.

7. A nice acquaintane (from my retail life) said hi as I walked to the public pool, towel over my shoulder. Somehow in the course of five seconds I managed to say something weird and awkward back to him. This wasn't part of a project, or an artwork. I was just being my authentic self, without even trying! While swimming, I thought: it's okay to be yourself, at least a little. I just read a whole pretty great novel about it

https://www.matthewhattiehein.com/sevencents/swimming-with-miranda-july

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darcygabe's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is easily my favorite book of the year, and easily Top 10 of all-time.

This story is decadent and unhinged and intense and whole and luxurious and makes you want to squeeze every little part of life.

The narrator is self-centered and eccentric and unhinged, and you love to hate her while accepting that you also have an unhinged side that really relates to these intense, borderline personality disorder esque quirks.

I for one was shocked and impressed by the tampon scene. I will never forget it… but I didn’t hate it. July creates these tense, deeply intimate moments that are designed to be unbelievably. Why not live in a world of ultimate freedom and liberation and exploring every aspect it means to be human?

The narrator is a journeying soul, insecure and ungrounded. She hurts plenty of people along the way, and I found her fascinating. Her mid life crisis was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from.

Overall I would highly recommend this book, but know it’s weird and is not for everyone.

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