No One Belongs Here More Than You

Miranda July: writer, actor, and director of Me and You and Everyone We Know, a film awarded the Camera d'Or at The Cannes Film Festival in 2005. She's a singer, performing artist, and now, the author of an excellent collection of short stories titled No One Belongs Here More Than You. Damn you Miranda July.

It's my inclination to assume that being a great actor doesn't entail the ability to be a great director and likewise, film makers turned writers seem to generally miss their mark. However, July's collection of short stories gently examines relationships in a fashion reminiscent of Lorrie Moore and even, dare I say, Raymond Carver.

The characters find themselves in situations which reveal the solemn nature of isolation. There is a lot of loneliness, much well written perversion. The stories are involved with defining moments, seemingly insignificant moments which surprise characters with their gravity. Something that Needs Nothing and How To Tell Stories to Children are strong with well executed conceits. Other stories like This Person and The Moves lack cohesion and really, any character development at all.

The stories are full of July's clever humor and yet remain quite self-aware with a felt interaction between author and text. At times, it seems the wit is almost a mode of preservation, something to fall back upon if the story is lacking thematically. However, these stories stand for themselves and are not in need of a crutch.

There is much hope and much joy in July. While most characters are in difficult or lonesome situations, the very exploration into their lives and who they are, how they cope or even fail, is what sets July's writing above average. She has a way with reproducing the real, and even more importantly, forcing the reader to acknowledge the real in themselves.

Damn you Miranda July.

Rating: 4 out of 5

If you like Miranda July,
try Lorrie Moore's Birds of America or
Raymond Carver's Will You Please Be Quiet Please