Unleash Your Superpower with Miranda July’s Life-Changing New Novel for Women!

Miranda July, renowned for her eccentric characters and profound, personal narratives on the human condition, first gained mainstream recognition with her 2005 film “Me and You and Everyone We Know.” Her short story collection, “No One Belongs Here More than You,” clinched the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award in 2007. Given her background in DIY, zines, video and performance art, it’s not surprising to see July’s impact on contemporary culture, particularly on internet phenomena such as memes and social media.

At the age of 50, July seems to have hit her creative prime with her latest novel, “All Fours” — her first since 2015’s “The First Bad Man.” A visit to her revamped home-cum-office in Los Angeles, prior to her appearance at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, revealed an environment brimming with creative vibrancy. It was clear that July takes great delight in her home’s new buttery-yellow cabinets and her friends’ pieces of art. After celebrating her 50th birthday in February, July traveled to Milan to inaugurate her first solo museum exhibition, “New Society,” at the Prada Foundation. She returned to the U.S. just in time for the release of “All Fours” on Tuesday.

“My life seems to be getting only stranger and more interesting,” she remarks.

The novel, which revolves around a moderately famous artist who embarks on a road trip from L.A. to New York leaving her husband and child at home, but instead checks into a hotel less than an hour from L.A. and falls for a car rental employee, was inspired by July’s own apprehensions about aging.

“I’ve always been optimistic about my future, always a lot to look forward to,” said July. “But when I hit 40, I began dreading the years ahead. The future seemed to shrink and dim. I wondered how aging would affect my body, my face, my sexuality. My conversations with other women were becoming more honest, more challenging, with us all questioning everything. But the conversations were hushed, because of the shame. The shame holds back so much vibrant life.”

“All Fours” started as a collection of women’s stories, with each chapter named after a different woman. July had thousands of notes on her phone, real-life anecdotes that she used to flesh out her narrator. Eventually, the book morphed into something else. “Fiction is my forte,” July said, “my earlier work was heavy on character development. But there were segments in ‘The First Bad Man’ that were more candid, more personal, and they were some of my favorite parts in the book. I wanted to go in that direction.”

The end result is a novel that delves into the anxieties of aging, the experience of having an aging female body, and the desire for a richer life. Like all of July’s work, “All Fours” is a wild journey. It is at once hilarious and profoundly honest. The narrator’s reflections on her marital obligations, her life as a mother, and her friendship are all startlingly relatable.

Devoted fans of July may notice similarities between the narrator of “All Fours” and July herself. In 2022, July revealed on Instagram that she and her husband, filmmaker Mike Mills, had amicably separated but remained a close-knit family. July doesn’t mind if readers draw parallels between her life and the book. “If you want to see me in the character, that’s fine. I could write like this forever. It’s like a character portrayed by me. I can do whatever I want with her. Compared to other writers, like Sheila Heti or Annie Ernaux, my style feels traditional because I still come up with characters and plot twists. I love dramatic reveals!”

However, incorporating her personal experiences into the novel was challenging. July said, “I was writing in real time, reflecting current changes in my life. Normally, I would have months, even years, to process these changes before weaving them into fiction. By the end, I was writing and discarding drafts to reach the point of writing fiction. But I’m proud that I managed to ride the wave and land on a fictional shore that felt true to me.”

When asked about the difference between writing a book and other media, July said it felt like another form of performance. “A lot of writing involves improvisation. I read a lot out loud, and I can tell where the reader might get confused. There’s a ‘will it work’ aspect in performance, and it’s the same when writing for readers.”

Connecting with readers involves a certain kind of magic. July eagerly anticipates readers’ reactions to her book. Her last film, “Kajillionaire,” was released during the pandemic, and she read responses in her DMs for the first time. “I sought permission to screenshot and post their responses because everyone felt so isolated, and I wanted to show them that they weren’t alone. Their responses were remarkably similar. It reassures me to know that my work is resonating with people. It’s not just floating aimlessly in space.”

Reading “All Fours” feels like being understood, like being caught and held, realizing that our experiences are not as solitary as they seem — that the future’s apparent narrowing and dimming is just a facade. There’s nothing substantial behind it. Nothing to fear. July’s commitment to expanding the discourse surrounding our sexuality is refreshingly radical.

“Usually when I finish a project, I’m relieved that I don’t have to work in that medium for a while! But I don’t feel that way with this book,” July said. “It’s confusing because it’s not my usual creative pattern, but the voice of the narrator is still with me. I joked with a friend, ‘What am I going to do, write “All Fives?”’ That would be a terrible title.”

Ferri is the proprietor of Womb House Books and the author of “Silent Cities San Francisco.”