You know when you finish a book and just sit there like…huh. That was a lot. That was me with All Fours. It’s sharp, messy, clever, and undeniably Miranda July – which is to say, it will either completely click with you or leave you frustrated. For me, it was both. I gave it four stars, but honestly? I still don’t quite know how I feel about it.
What’s It About?
A forty-five year old artist (unnamed, but clearly semi-autobiographical) sets off from LA on a solo road trip to New York – only to stop 30 minutes into the drive and never quite make it out of the small town where she’s pulled over for petrol. What follows is a surreal, spiraling few weeks in a motel room that she proceeds to spend $20,000 redecorating – and where she embarks on a strange, obsessive relationship (emotional? physical? spiritual?) with a much younger, married man named Davey.
But really, All Fours isn’t about plot. It’s about a woman in midlife trying to work out who she is – a mother, wife, artist, sexual being – and what’s left when everything familiar starts to feel like it no longer fits.
What Stood Out to Me
- It’s messy. Like, really messy. The narrator’s thoughts spiral, she lies, she lusts, she second-guesses every choice. I found myself frustrated by her one moment and rooting for her the next – which, to be fair, probably mirrors how she feels about herself.
- The humour is so specific. July has a knack for being both absurd and spot-on in a single sentence. There are laugh-out-loud lines here, but also moments that made me squirm with second-hand embarrassment. The tampon scene? If you know, you know.
- It tackled midlife in a way I haven’t seen before. Menopause, desire, identity, creative purpose, female friendship -it’s all here, often explored with a rawness that feels unfiltered and daring.
- I admired it more than I loved it. This is a book that made me think. A foreshadowing of what’s yet to come? But I can’t pretend I didn’t roll my eyes at times. The narrator is so in her head, and I occasionally wished she’d get out of it. Still, there’s something compelling about how Miranda July pushes boundaries and approaches those topics, like female midlife without rose-tinted glasses.
Would I Recommend It?
If you like you fiction tidy and neatly resolved, this might not be for you. But if you’re curious about books that dive deep into the weird and wonderful chaos of womanhood, creativity and being forty-something and floundering – it’s worth the ride. Not perfect, but provocative in all the right ways.
Have you read All Fours? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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