One hot and humid night last August, I wandered into a Barnes & Noble to revel in the air conditioning. While walking through the alphabetical-by-last-name rows of fiction and literature, I found a favorite book of mine, No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. Upon opening it, a handwritten note fell out—something I would expect to find in a used or independent bookstore, not in this massive chain franchise.
Having already read the book, this note didn’t make me want to buy this copy right away. But it was reassuring to know that someone else felt the same way I did about the collection of short stories, that someone else went to bookstores just to look at books they already owned. Thank you, Tawnya.
Each individual story captures, or attempts to capture, the small, real moments of human life. Sometimes, it misses the mark—July’s awkward, quirky encounters don’t always provide a base of narrative normalcy, and you may find yourself wondering why you’re still reading this disjointed collection of loneliness. Occasionally, it may seem as though the pieces are trying too hard to fit into this “indie” persona, with no proper endings. To me, that’s what makes these stories so beautiful. I enjoy the fact that her magical realism leaves so many elements up to the reader’s interpretation. I like that I, unlike the narrator of Majesty, am not looking for Prince William to “nuzzle [my] buns,” I can empathize with this brief glimpse into human consciousness. The characters are only present for a few moments, but that doesn’t mean they are any less developed—it just means that I get to project some parts of my own narrative onto theirs.
With each turn of the page there is a new line of her prose to write down in your journal, or to quote on your blog, or to simply feel. Whether it’s “[y]ou are obviously completely happy and fulfilled already, even though we only broke up two weeks ago. I wasn’t even totally sure we were broken up until I saw you with her” from “The Swim Team,” or “and I laughed and said, ‘Life is easy.’ What I meant was, ‘Life is easy with you here, and when you leave, it will be hard again’” from “Ten True Things.” I personally hope that, in a few years, when I look back on all the romantic hardships that seemed like such a big deal at the time, I will remember this line from “How to Tell Stories to Children” and smile: “Tom looked across the patio, our eyes met, and for a split second I remembered my drunken nineteen-year-old face pressed against his chest at a party, his lips resting on top of my head, murmuring, ‘You know I wish I could.’ It seemed impossible that I ever thought of him as the main attraction.”
If you’re looking for small respites from your 24-hour O’Neill grind, or just looking for something to read while relaxing at the beach this summer, consider No One Belongs Here More Than You. Each story can be read alone, and when read together they’re even better. But, if you’d like to take more than my word for it, feel free to read this full excerpt of “This Person.” And if the bright yellow pictured above isn’t your style, it comes in green, pink, and orange, in addition to all of the international covers.
So, this is my version of a note in a paperback, or a sort of message in a bottle. I hope you, yes you, find the words you’re searching for in Miranda July’s stories, and that you recommend it to someone else in any way you know how.