ALL FOURS

by Miranda July

As my co-editor and I have mentioned in previous issues of L&L, when we choose a book to review as a Not My Cup of Tea, it isn’t because we think the book is “bad.”  Maybe we think it doesn’t live up to its hype. Or there may be an aspect to the book that is so hard to accept that it tips our overall assessment into the Not My Cup of Tea category.  Such is the case with All Fours, a National Book Award Finalist, by Miranda July.

When I came to All Fours, I hadn’t read any of July’s previous three books. But I was aware that she has a reputation for “pushing boundaries” when it comes to writing about women’s sexuality.  And that may be what I admired most about All Fours.  July writes about a 40-something woman who leaves her husband and young child at home to drive across country by herself to a professional meeting in New York City.  But she ditches the trip after 30 miles, rents a hotel room and pursues a few weeks of liberation – sexual and otherwise – not possible in her “real” life at home.  I found myself thinking while I was reading, maybe Miranda July is to young women readers today what Erica Jong was to women in the early 1970s.  She creates a character who grabs for independence and explores her sexuality outside of what society considers “appropriate.” And I admire that. Women shouldn’t be held to different sexual standards than men.

However, amidst her explorations, July’s protagonist comes across as self-absorbed, unstable and not at all empathetic.  I’m sure it would be a true challenge to write a sympathetic character who leaves her child and lies about where she goes in order to live out her sexual fantasies.  But, because of my inability to connect with the main character,  I find All Fours as Not My Cup of Tea. (Liz)