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Sign up todayAll Fours
A Novel
Narrator
Miranda July
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Length
10 hours 13 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“I read this book the week I turn 44 (all fours) and for a while there it held me completely. I was obsessed. July reads the audio herself firstly!!! There were so many lines and moments (I’ll just take my spoons and leave, every day is Tuesday, the sandwich scene, the tampon scene, the hormonal cliff) that will inhabit my being. I could do little else beside reading this book and thinking about this book and thinking about this book and thinking about this book. But the final third did not quite maintain the energy and propulsion of the first two thirds and the book ground to a bit of a halt. Endings are hard and this one didn’t land. But July hit for the rafters and I always love that risk even if it ultimately falls a little short. Seeing a perimenopausal 45 year old woman on the page felt positively revolutionary when it really shouldn’t. Thanks to everyone who listened while I obsessed over this novel. It was all consuming for a while there.”
— Jaclyn • Hill of Content Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“There are many people out there who don’t need a review to tell them that their next essential book to read is anything Miranda July writes, whenever that happens to be released. To you fellow devotees, I say that All Fours is here, and it is everything you want and a whole lot you didn’t know you needed but will soon find you can’t do without. That’s all you require from me today, so read no further: you’ll love this. In All Fours, her second novel, July looks to the life stage usually referred to as ‘midlife’, that is to say the phase where one might realise that there is more time receding in the rear-view mirror and less of it stretching out on the road ahead. ”
— Alison • Readings
Bookseller recommendation
“All Fours is a delightful examination of what it means to be human, written in a truly unique voice that Miranda July has fine-tuned across multiple media. This odyssey of a married middle-aged woman whose cross-country trek is cut short by her sudden whim to camp out in a very local motel is written with a style constantly suspended between unpretentious and profound (a rare talent). The filmmaker-cum-performance artist is not generally known as a novelist, despite the now-four texts and some collections to bear her name. But this novel's frank exploration of our artistic impulses, and the fears of our own sexuality that plague us regardless of age and status, should make July a household name.”
— Lewis • Interabang Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Bold, uncompromising, and audacious, Miranda July confronts what it means to be a person with a uterus coming into middle age and struggling to understand not only the hormone changes that arrive in that nebulous time of aging, but also the spiral of self-doubt and emergence of depressions. An Eat, Pray, Love for the Gen Y crowd. July's narrator is at times infuriating, insightful, magical, and awash in an orgasmic glow. Both passionately exacting and frustratingly obtuse, she mimics life in the Anthropocene and as such I don’t know whether to hail or hate her. There are levels of insight that ring clear and true as well as layers of self-delusion that show our own worst tendencies to careen towards destruction. Regardless of one's feeling towards the central character, at the very least July has been able to take her readers on a tour through the landscapes of our own illusions in an attempt to try and find freedom. That, in and of itself, is a feat worth praising.”
— Jesse • Odyssey Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“It took me so long to finally start this. I've seen more than 100 people purchase it at my bookstore, but I waited for it to call to me. Once I started, I fell in love with it. Audacious and bold, I love a novel about sexuality & fantasies. ”
— Veronica A • Powell's Books
Bookseller recommendation
“So good! An unnamed woman, who is a somewhat famous artist, struggles with middle-age. Facing a career crisis, depression, and peri-menopause, she decides to drive to an event in New York from LA to prove she is not the person she or others expect. Instead of reaching NY, she winds up staying in a motel room 20 minutes from her house for 3 weeks. Seeking direction and greater understanding of herself, her exploration of her sexuality becomes the basis for changing her life to live more as herself. I appreciated that the sexual adventures were a means to self discovery rather than the culmination of a particular romance. July captures the complexity of life in middle age - friendships, love, parenting and the desire to continue to growing in your knowledge of oneself and one’s relationships to others.”
— Amy • A Great Good Place for Books
Bookseller recommendation
“One thing I love about being a bookseller and getting sent so many books to review is that I often read things I might not otherwise pick up. While I'm likely not the target reader for this as a 45 year old hetero cis white man, it has really stuck with me and made me think about topics I don't often spend much time considering, such as the identity crises that can accompany menopause, the complexity of middle aged desire and sexuality, and autonomy in romantic intimacy. Overall I found All Fours to be a funny, weird, wild, boundary-pushing romp of a novel and I'm so glad I read it! ”
— Josh • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“This one is worth listening to for July's delivery alone. Her deadpan monotone highlights both the comedy and the heartbreaking pathos of the novel, which I went back to later to read on paper. A wonderful performance of one of my favorite books of the year thus far.”
— Laura June • Make Believe Books
Bookseller recommendation
“All Fours isn't always an easy read - the intensity and specificity of the narrator's obsessiveness is frequently overwhelming - but I tore through it in a couple of days. An urgent, visceral, and thorough exploration of midlife, menopause, sex, and marriage that manages to surprise with every new plot development. It may not be for everyone, but if it's for you then it is for you. It might change your life - and that isn't hyperbole.”
— David • Books Inc.
Bookseller recommendation
“A wild ride. Emotional, chaotic, modern and boldly human, "All Fours," is blowing minds (mine included) everywhere. After a psycho-sexual revelation derails her cross-country road trip, our narrator embarks on a new journey: to salvage what is left of her prime by honoring the desires of her wandering soul. This whole book delighted and shocked me in equal parts. Highly recommend!”
— Helen • Frenchtown Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“At times shocking, but always riveting. I devoured this book and enjoyed every moment.”
— Emily • Capricorn Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Bold, uncompromising, and audacious, Miranda July confronts what it means to be a person with a uterus coming into middle age and struggling to understand not only the hormone changes that arrive in that nebulous time of aging, but also the spiral of self-doubt and emergence of depressions. An Eat, Pray, Love for the Gen Y crowd. July's narrator is at times infuriating, insightful, magical, and awash in an orgasmic glow. Both passionately exacting and frustratingly obtuse, she mimics life in the Anthropocene and as such I don’t know whether to hail or hate her. There are levels of insight that ring clear and true as well as layers of self-delusion that show our own worst tendencies to careen towards destruction. Regardless of one's feeling towards the central character, at the very least July has been able to take her readers on a tour through the landscapes of our own illusions in an attempt to try and find freedom. That, in and of itself, is a feat worth praising.”
— Roxanne • Odyssey Bookshop
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The New York Times bestselling author returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and surprising novel about a woman upending her life
“A frank novel about a midlife awakening, which is funnier and more boldly human than you ever quite expect . . . nothing short of riveting.” —Vogue
“All Fours has spurred a whisper network of women fantasizing about desire and freedom. . . . It’s the talk of every group text."—The New York Times
“All Fours possessed me. I picked it up and neglected my life until the last page, and then I started begging every woman I know to read it as soon as possible.” —The Cut
“A novel that presses into that tender bruise about the anxiety of aging, of what it means to have a female body that is aging, and wanting the freedom to live a fuller life . . . Deeply funny and achingly true.” —LA Times
“July’s novel is hot and weird and captivating and one of the most entertaining, deranged, and moving depictions of lust and romantic mania I’ve ever read.” —New York Magazine
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.
Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
Miranda July is a writer, filmmaker, and artist. Her debut novel, The First Bad Man, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and her collection of stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harper’s, and The New Yorker. July lives in Los Angeles.
Miranda July is a writer, filmmaker, and artist. Her debut novel, The First Bad Man, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and her collection of stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harper’s, and The New Yorker. July lives in Los Angeles.
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Reviews
Praise for All Fours:“All Fours has spurred a whisper network of women fantasizing about desire and freedom...It’s the talk of every group text."—The New York Times
“An irreverent and brilliantly touching story of a woman’s quest for freedom.” —Oprah Daily
"Atmospheric, sexy and totally unexpected." —People Magazine
“July’s candor, her fearlessness, in describing the unwieldy emotional and biological nuances of this time of life is refreshing...reading her new novel, as a so-called woman of a certain age, I felt seen in a way that is rare. It was invigorating.”—Wall Street Journal
“An intimate, fearless, and sexy coming-of-middle-age story . . [a] wonderfully weird adventure.” —TIME
“It’s not just that Miranda July’s latest novel is so propulsive you might have to cancel plans or set aside PTO just to scarf it down. It’s that her dazzlingly horny intelligence wrestles with marriage, queerness, and desire by turns sweet and hilarious, making even the smallest pangs of desire sizzle.”—Vulture
“All Fours possessed me. I picked it up and neglected my life until the last page, and then I started begging every woman I know to read it as soon as possible...Miranda July has given women in their 40s something totally new to want, plus permission to want it.” —Emily Gould, The Cut
“Deeply funny and achingly true….Reading All Fours feels like being seen, like being caught and held, making those connections and realizing that our experiences are not so isolating …July’s commitment to widening the space when it comes to our sexuality is joyfully radical.” —LA Times
“All Fours cast a spell on me and was hard to emerge from."—The Yale Review
“Showcases July’s wry observational powers about marriage, sex, aging and creative workaholism, along with her bawdy and philosophical sense of humor.”— San Francisco Chronicle
“With All Fours, perimenopausal readers finally have their own Portnoy’s Complaint. But even that comparison doesn’t capture the immediacy of July’s prose, its infallible timing, its palpable sense of performance.” —Washington Post
"The frankness with which the narrator delves into perimenopause and menopause is a revelation…at once hilarious and dead serious. Girls who grew up in the '80s passing around Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, now midlife women, should share All Fours for its attention to many of the same questions."—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Miranda July may be one of the most interesting writers working today...All Fours announces itself as a scream and an uncontrollable laugh, shining a light on the absurdity of the left turns one takes on their way to midlife. But underneath the strangeness and irreverence rests a notable sense of vulnerability that will leave readers awe-struck of July’s daring.”—Chicago Review of Books
“My favorite book of the summer…this funny, quirky, and emotionally transformative novel is a must-read.”— E! News
“July’s novel is hot and weird and captivating and one of the most entertaining, deranged, and moving depictions of lust and romantic mania I’ve ever read.” —New York Magazine
“Funny, sexy and irreverent...with wry wit and curiosity about human intimacy, All Fours is about the reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist.”—PureWow
“I found myself reading All Fours in solitude, because as I read I’d started making sounds that were recognizably laughter but were also expulsions of heartbreak and what I’ll call a cleansing sorrow. If the United States had the good sense to name national treasures, I’d nominate Miranda July.” —Michael Cunningham, author of Day
"A giddy, bold, mind-blowing tour de force by one of our most important literary writers."—George Saunders, Booker-Prize winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo
"Profound and bawdy and deeply human, a brilliant work of art from a completely blown-open and fearless mind."—Emma Cline, New York Times bestselling author of The Guest
“Sharply funny...All Fours focuses on the boundary lines of human connection and sexuality, in this case, while exploring the desires and creative instincts of a woman in the transitional time of middle age. July enters this territory with humor and heart, leaving readers with plenty to chew on.” —W Magazine
"Characteristically witty, startlingly intimate. . .This tender, strange treatise on getting out from the ‘prefab structures’ of a conventional life is quintessentially July.”—Kirkus
“A brilliant, sexy, funny, ludicrously entertaining primal scream of a coming-of-middle-age story… Beyond-dazzling, eyes-wide-open fiction.”—Booklist, STARRED review
“Hilarious, sexy, and wonderfully weird... a revelation.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
“There have been few works of contemporary fiction about menopause, and even fewer that are as erotic and funny…All Fours is undeniably victorious.” —BookPage, STARRED review
"A frank novel about a midlife awakening, which is funnier and more boldly human than you ever quite expect….the bravery of All Fours is nothing short of riveting.” —Vogue
"A sexy and sharp exploration of middle-aged sexuality and one woman’s thirst for liberation while still performing her role in a nuclear family.”—Alta
“[July] altered my ideas of what kinds of stories were possible—something Sally Rooney and I have in common. In her second novel, July brings her singular brand of sardonic melancholia and wide-eyed wisdom to bear on this tale of a semi-famous middle-aged artist who decides to take a left turn from the left turn she had already planned.”—Electric Literature
“This is a gut-punch of a novel, a must-read for every woman nearing or over forty, confronting the malaise of midlife, fertility, marriage, and menopause, packaged in July’s delirious style.”—LitHub
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