short stories that feel like dessert

The way in which Miranda July manages to amuse and inform her audience is insatiable. Each story is like a new paradigm to chew on.

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Unique

I re-listened to these after All Fours and they came to life. Short stories can be very unsatisfying without having read a novel, but I feel like I got more from them second time round because of the recurrence of themes

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Quirky, edgy and entertaining

You gotta laugh... or cry.

These short stories are all quirky, often odd, humorous, or sad. Many are sensual, exploring sexuality, love and friendship. Others are sad, revealing loneliness, isolation and self-doubt.

But... they are all entertaining, engaging, edgy and... worth a listen.

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1 person found this helpful

white melancholy

Contains mild spoilers.

I do feel bad giving only 3 stars, if I could have given 3.5 I would. The stories are beautifully written and performed, July's dialogue is excellent and feels extremely real, she's funny and witty. What bothered me to the point that I had to take a break about halfway through was the fact that all stories seemed to be variations of each other and they all seemed to lack purpose. It was always (or almost always? I can't think of an exception) about a woman's life being destroyed, or about her being stuck in a rut and trying to get out of it but being unable to - disturbingly, incest seems to be a bit of a motif, and while I think the last story was meant to be about a mothering kind of love, it read like grooming. Some stretches felt like Joy Williams in that they both don't shy away from the surreal, but to me, July's stories, while observant and eloquent, lacked purpose; I left empty handed, so to speak.

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2 people found this helpful

Brilliant!

A beautiful, intimate, quirky, full of great moments and gorgeously narrated book of stories.
My favourite is the 'swimming coach' one.
I totally recommend!

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Title says it all

A work of genius, when it wasn't irritating. Am going to read it again immeadiatly.

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Dazzlingly unique

Where do I start? This was probably the best collection of short stories I’ve ever read. July’s writing style is really unique and hearing her read it out loud creates a interesting almost lucid feeling. She finds moments of humanity and pathos in the weirdest/most unlikely places. The characters in the stories are so eccentric and full of idiosyncrasies and neurosis; at first these can be slightly jarring but as the stories progress it’s amazing how you can catch little glimpses of yourself and moments of universality. It gets weird at times. A lot of the stories focus on people at the fringes of society- but July’s prose keeps it entertaining throughout

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Perfect snapshots

Funny, moving, toe curling- these insights into the everyday and the bizarre are perfectly narrated

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Miranda July is a quiet genius

This collection of original short stories covers brave ground in examining themes of love (requited and unrequited), sexual desire and isolation - reworking these familiar literary themes through honest and perhaps somewhat jaded eyes.

Celebrated performance artist, director and writer Miranda July has arguably created a collection here deserving of as much critical acclaim as her beautiful film 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' (2005). Like the film, this compilation tackles difficult and awkward subjects with a sensitive, sometimes touching and always frank tone. Due to this frankness, listeners of a sensitive disposition should be warned that there is sometimes powerful language and sexual/deviant themes in some of the stories, although it doesn't seem contrived/shock-value in the context of these plots - the majority of them first-person monologues.

July reads these stories with the heartfelt voice-cracking earnestness that they deserve, although a listener can't help but feel that she may have a mischievous twinkle in her eye or tongue firmly in-cheek at the same time.

Especially important listening for anyone experiencing an existential crisis, or even those who wish to understand the nature of the world and the private/hidden lives of those around them a little better.

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26 people found this helpful

Wonderful writing

A lot of small, well-written stories. So many unusual metaphors, and unusual stories that you really remember in the end. One of the best collection of stories I have ever read (unfortunately though, I mostly read books) and it makes me want to read from her.

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2 people found this helpful