This is a wild book.
What do I know about Miranda July? That she was part of the riot grrrl scene, that she was more than a musician, a performance artist, and although exalted, she lived on the fringe of commerciality.
Which delivered a ton of credibility, then again it was not easy for me to get over the change of her name from Grossinger to July (not that I knew it had been Grossinger, I learned that from Wikipedia doing research about her after starting the book). When someone has a generic last name, nothing you'd find out in the wild, it kind of sticks in my craw. It's such a statement.
But the bottom line is Miranda lived on my periphery. I knew who she was, kinda, but my knowledge was barely an inch deep.
And then "All Fours" got great reviews. Made the best seller list. And that interested me. Because I knew July was left of center, I knew she would produce something different, far from traditional, and that's the kind of thing that intrigues me. Although July is only fifty, this challenge of orthodoxy, coloring outside the lines, is a value we had in the sixties, and I miss it.
Not that I would have laid down cash, I reserved "All Fours" at the library, via Libby, which I highly recommend. Did you see the Kindle is having a revival as a result of BookTok?
"How the Kindle Became a Must-Have Accessory (Again) - the e-reader has become the gadget of choice on #BookTok"
Free link: t.ly/KtAt0
You know I've got a bug up my butt about the Kindle backlash. The naysayers, the Luddites, lost in music, the CD died and streaming took over, but the oldsters who control the book business stopped the Kindle in its tracks, because reading must be done on paper, they like the feel of a physical book, and they like displaying the spine in their collection to impress guests, even though they'll probably never pick up the book again. But just like with MP3s and streaming, the little girls understand. And women do drive the book business, and when you try to impress your set in mud beliefs upon younger generations, they often reject them, be wary of this.
So I started reading "All Fours" and it was not what all the reviews said it was about, menopause.
Now maybe if you're a male you're not interested in menopause. But I'll tell you you are interested in girls, and the more insight you gain into the opposite sex the more headway you'll make, you want to show interest, compassion, understanding.
Not that I recommend the average male pick up "All Fours," I think many couldn't handle it, or wouldn't be interested.
And in truth at first I wasn't interested either. I stopped and started multiple times.
But then the book started to pick up.
Let's see, there's a cross-country trip. And classification of those who do such a thing and those who don't, Drivers and Parkers. Which one are you?
Oh, let me add that what kept me reading was when the main character said she was working all the time and missing out on life. She loved to work, she needed to get ahead, but what experiences eluded her? This is a question those trying to get somewhere ask ourselves on a regular basis, especially in this world where all the wasted time has been excised by Covid. That's right, the drive to the doctor, that's been eliminated, so many appointments are virtual. You have to make an effort to socialize outside work, it's not easy to do and you're constantly asking yourself whether you're wasting time.
And then the book takes a left turn. It's fantastical. Money is spent on something no one would ever lay down for. You think you're living in a world that has no relation to reality.
But then it all starts to make sense.
And about sixty percent of the way through menopause finally starts to be mentioned.
Let me ask you, do you still feel sexy, desirable? Men and women. Do you think genetics has something to do with your loss of libido? This is investigated in "All Fours," yet not so much clinically but in a frenzy of the individual dealing with aging and being concerned with time passing them by.
And crushes... Do you act on them?
And what is a marriage anyway?
In truth, "All Fours" tracks relatively closely to July's life. But write what you know, right?
And it still takes a while to get into. It's not difficult, but you just don't know where it's going, you're not hooked.
And then you are.
"All Fours" has an artistic sensibility. You know, one in which money doesn't come first. Where it's all about asking questions and pushing boundaries.
If you're over forty and a woman, I highly recommend "All Fours."
Then again, if you're hooked on nonfiction, if your books need to be set centuries ago, if questioning everything about your life doesn't resonate, maybe it's not for you.
And men...
"All Fours" is a cultural landmark. It's anything but me-too. You haven't read anything like it. But it's not like Jennifer Egan, "All Fours" does not come from a literary tradition. It comes from...
A riot grrrl tradition. As in a rock sensibility that believes women have power and can do exactly what the men do. Furthermore, everything is up for grabs, norms, if not thrown completely out the window, need to be questioned.
"All Fours" is not the kind of literary fiction your facilitated book group will read, but it will engender tons of conversation nonetheless.
I finished it almost a week ago, but I keep thinking about it. I'm not haunted by it, and it's not so much about the questions, but throwing off the shackles, a life in which everything is up for grabs, after all we only get one chance at life and we want to make the most of it.
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