All Fours by Miranda July - A Rapid Review

A rapid review, because things move fast in outer space.

Image source: mirandajuly.com

Stars

I rate this book five stars out of five stars.

Cosmic Dust

womanhood . motherhood . art . perspective . contentedness . aging . family . dance

Meals Ready to Eat

You wouldn't know I had a curious bone in my body from the monosyllabic responses I give him. It feels terrible to be so cold, but it's hard to find a middle ground. There was a time I would have responded with the compliance of a minor — his anxiety was my anxiety. Once, when I was six or seven, my mom flew to visit her sister in Boise. He kept the kitchen radio on for the duration of the flight and he didn't even have to say why—of course we were listening for the breaking news of her plane crash. At the time of her arrival in Idaho I exhaled, thinking we were safe, then he said: Lag time. I understood immediately. Between her plane crashing and the radio report there would be a lag. We kept listening, silently, together.

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'Have you been anywhere fun lately?' a long-haired man asked me after describing Cancun.

'No,' I said, 'but I'm just realizing this dynamic I have with my husband where I express my problem so dramatically that I become the problem, which makes me desperate to win back his favor. It's a cycle that keeps us from ever moving forward with our issues. I think my mom did this, too.'

For more by Miranda July, visit https://www.mirandajuly.com