Can we please talk about All Fours, by Miranda July?

[Anonymous]

I'm 50 and can relate thematically to some of the issues her protagonist is facing and I appreciate some of the author's observations (i.e. comparing the feeling that she should have sex with her husband to unpaid, overdue bill), and yet ... IDK, too much not-at-all-hot sex. Too much of the self-centered narrator. Too much Miranda July-ness. It all became tiresome. Also, I know the protagonist is a character and not the author, and yet there are so many parallels between July and her main character that I can't help but feel this is a very autobiographical novel. Tell me what you thought.

[Anonymous]

I loved all fours.

and the metaphor you described really resonated with me....

there was another metaphor early on in the book, about being in a long term marriage and the aloneness that one feels...

... maybe its because I am 42. been with DH for 18 years. My marriage is in a similar place at the woman in this book.

i did enjoy the book. i found comfort in the things that i am feeling in my own marriage, that i am not the only one that feels this way...

will i run out and book a motel and open my marriage? no! but i know that i am not alone. long term marriage shifts and moves and needs to grow. stagnation = death.

i also read "splinters" by leslie jamison around the same time. IMHO, i found the protagonist in "all fours" so much more likable/more raw/real than leslie jamison's character.

[Anonymous]

I just finished this book! I'm trying to decide if I liked it or not. A lot of the sex stuff was funny to me or seemed more pathetic than erotic. I laughed a lot at the main character because she seemed so ridiculous at times but I also related to parts of the book. My takeaway from the book right now is that your life isn't over until it's over and there's always time ro change things and have new experiences

[Anonymous]

Op, i agree with you. I found the book tiresome and skipped the last 30 pages because I was just done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished this book! I'm trying to decide if I liked it or not. A lot of the sex stuff was funny to me or seemed more pathetic than erotic. I laughed a lot at the main character because she seemed so ridiculous at times but I also related to parts of the book. My takeaway from the book right now is that your life isn't over until it's over and there's always time ro change things and have new experiences

I agree with your take! It stuck with me a lot more than other books I read recently so I’ll consider that to be noteworthy. I thought the writing was good too and I really laughed at a few parts. The non binary child was a good touch too.

[Anonymous]

I loved the first few chapters and then by the end I felt suffocated and strangled in that overdone hotel room and couldn’t wait to end the book. Think I was looking for something more relatable and less over the top.

[Anonymous]

I did not enjoy it at all. The narrator was insufferable and so privileged and had no recognition of that privilege. She didn’t work for over a year and spent 20k redecorating a motel room?! It was too bizarre and navel gazing for me.

[Anonymous]

I absolutely could not get into it. I quit about 1/3 in. Disappointed.

[Anonymous]

I had such high hopes and didn't care for it. I found her distinctly unlikeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, i agree with you. I found the book tiresome and skipped the last 30 pages because I was just done with it.

Me too. Could not relate to main charachter in any way.

- single mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved the first few chapters and then by the end I felt suffocated and strangled in that overdone hotel room and couldn’t wait to end the book. Think I was looking for something more relatable and less over the top.

Same.

[Anonymous]

I keep going back and forth on whether to read! I've liked Miranda July's movies even though they made me SO uncomfortable. I guess I may as well pick up All Fours and just see how much I hate/love it.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks all for chiming in. Interesting that some read the sex scenes as comedy. That wasn't how I read them, but now that you mention it, I can see the argument (and maybe they work better that way.)

I also appreciated her characterization of her kid's childhood as a period of time she spent making so many sandwiches that her child was likely to remember as some vague fugue-state. That definitely resonated with me.

Overall, I'm surprised to see this book last on so many "year's bests" lists. My pet theory is that the editors at places like the NY Times just reward the buzzy books with those lists. (Reading the Times review -- gift link here https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/12/books/review/all-fours-miranda-july.html?unlocked_article_code=1.mU4.Pfay.nMeVzrqeT-BY&smid=url-share --, it was not entirely clear to me that the reviewer enjoyed the book. I work in culture/media and I am familiar with how reviewers sometimes talk about or around a piece of work that they feel is too "important" to pan.)

[Anonymous]

It’s a good premise - a middle aged woman taking a break from her life - but would have been so much more relatable if she were 1) a harried mom with a job that anyone could have, not some nebulous job that is never made clear, and 2) actually had sex with the hot younger guy and not an old woman!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely could not get into it. I quit about 1/3 in. Disappointed.

Same here. I got so annoyed when she started redecorating that hotel room I stopped reading!