I came to All Fours not knowing what to expect. It is very physical, raunchy and quite shocking in parts, but overall it is a very good read indeed, and the author certainly knows how to write sizzling prose that wrong-foots the reader at every turn.
A woman comes into a little windfall, and decides to drive across country, alone, to New York. Her husband helps her plan her route, and stays behind with their small child. But after she sets off, about half an hour from her home, she stops in a small town and almost against her will, checks into a somewhat rundown motel. She is as surprised by her actions as the reader, and things become ever stranger as she begins a passionate but unconsummated affair with a younger man she meets by chance. All the while, she checks in with her family, who believe her to be well on her way towards the east coast.
This is one of the most thought provoking books I have read for quite a while. I found the relentless sexual references a little tiresome, but of course they are what the book hangs on: this is a woman in her forties, searching for something elusive and trying to find meaning in her life, as she becomes 'invisible' even to herself.
Definitely recommended.

“Everyone thinks doggy style is so vulnerable,” Jordi said, “but it’s actually the most stable position. Like a table. It’s hard to be knocked down when you’re on all fours.”

—

A few years before he died, the critic and philosopher Roland Barthes became almost obsessed with the concept of ‘vita nova’, a latin term that translates to mean ‘the new life’. He dedicated time in his lectures to wondering if such a thing was possible, and whether he might be able to find a new life somehow. In his diary, he wondered if ‘vita nova’ could only be achieved after the death of a loved one, given that the concept, for Barthes, became closely associated with the idea of a ‘radical break’ from how one had been living, meaning it required leaving behind all previous connections behind in order to achieve it.

The narrator of Miranda July’s second novel might well relate to that idea. A semi-successful artist that feels stuck, in need of something to revitalise her, when she finds herself staying at a motel 30-minutes from home and a young man working at a car rental store ignites something in her. His introduction into her life brings with it a complex desire, and a reckoning with her own dwindling sexuality. It forms the beginning of a radical break from conformity and a shift away from expectations.

All Fours is story sexual obsession, and confusion. One that is entirely unpredictable and, at times, enraging. It is a bold swing and a lot of it works, but, I also feel somewhat disconnected from it at times, particularly during its middle section. I found its world harder to slip into that I did July’s wonderfully weird debut or her short stories. On paper, this is the kind of thing I would fall head over heels fore, and it had moments that I really adored the beginning and the end, sections about feeling lost or unsure, which really moved me, but something kept me at arms length in the middle, never allowing me to totally give myself over to it.

Raw, at times funny, at times heart-felt - but at all times totally and utterly compelling,

This is Miranda July's second book, i missed the first - am off to search for it now!

I really enjoyed this novel - one that, to me, is in two parts, but also this is a book that deals with very different issues.

The female narrator and protagonist is an unnamed artist. She plans to drive cross country from LA to New York, leaving her husband, Harris, and child ('they'), Sam, at home. However, when she gets to the outskirts of LA, she finds a motel and decides to stay there for the two weeks she is going to be away, living a lie to herself and her family.

In Monrovia, at the motel, the narrator finds an interior decorator, Claire, who agrees to completely change the room - it is somewhat implausible why this would be permitted but it does and the narrator is very pleased. She sets up home, pretending to her husband and child she is stopping off at different places en route to New York. Then, she falls for Davey, Claire's partner, who works at the Hertz car rental office.

Clearly, the narrator is having a difficult time. She isn't having sex with Harris - but wants it with Davey (who doesn't reciprocate). She becomes quite obsessed with him, learns about his past, and is devastated when she has to return to her family. What happens next is quite soul-destroying for her - she starts sleeping with women and her husband has a girlfriend, Paige. They embrace an unconventional lifestyle, grow further apart. All the while it is never clear why the narrator is quite well-known. She is an artist but it's quite vague what she has done to be famous.

Miranda July has written a book which, predominantly, is about a woman's quest to find some meaning in her life; particularly prevalent is the perimenopause and for this reason, I believe women, specifically, will find her story extremely compelling and well-written. There is humour throughout - and the story is bitter-sweet, too.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is an interesting read, I really struggled with the first part and almost gave up but I enjoyed parts 2 & 3 much better. I liked the female friendship aspect of the story but really failed to warm or like the main character who seemed selfish and self absorbed. The sexual content didn’t add any value to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read All Fours.

A 45-46 years old with the fears, inability to communicate her wants and needs, and unfortunately also the behaviour of a young adult. This may be alright, cool even, in Hollywood but is a big NO-NO in my books!

Sorry folks!

Thank you NetGalley and Cannongate for the opportunity to review All Fours.

I read this while away on a weekend break thinking that this would make for a wonderful holiday rate. Unfortunately July hasn't managed to hit the mark for me.

The main voice felt incredibly unfinished and unpolished for me. Our unnamed "semi-famous artist" felt incredibly one dimensional with no real sympathy built. The book felt built around the trope of miscommunication, without any explicit miscommunication. The idea that our narrator values her and her husbands lack of communication as a selling point and a positive aspect of the marriage feels completely out of touch with reality.

The narrator paid someone $20,000 to decorate a motel room, and somehow nobody seems to stop this happening.

While I love seeing frank, open discussions of the ways things like menopause impacts women, and the sections were our narrator talked to other women about their relationships, sexuality etc was great: a broad spectrum was shown. Having more older, queer protagonists is much needed. However this was not enough to rescue from the idiotic choices the narrator made.

If this hadn't been a graciously given ARC I would have DNF'd it.

Ambigous, intriguing and funny: a well plotted story about recreating an identity and running away from you life.
Loved the storytelling and July is well plotted and fascinating.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

You know when you finish reading a book and just have to pause and take it all in – but in the very best way? All Fours by the enigmatic Miranda July made me do exactly that.

Our (unnamed) narrator is an artist (of unspecified work and medium) with a small level of fame, is married to Harris and has a child, Sam. She has also hit a moment of reflection and crisis in her life, largely due to the peri-menopause. Something that happens to women in their late 40s to varying degrees as a pre-curser to the menopause, but sometimes with just as brutal consequences as the full menopause.

All Fours is actually the second book I’ve recently read where the lead character is navigating peri-menopause – My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes also looks at this topic, although they couldn’t be more different reads. Which actually is a great way to sum up peri-menopause, it’s never the same for two women.

Our narrator is having a creative block so decides to drive cross-country from LA to New York, where she can meet up with friends. The long drive will give her time to think and reevaluate her life. She hits the road, ends up in a motel 20 mins drive away and basically stays there.

This is for a few reasons but the main one being that she randomly meets a younger man, Davey and he quickly becomes her obsession. Their relationship is very nuanced and it’s not a one way street on her part either. It’s explored in such a tender, exciting and unexpected way, it really has you hooked.

Her thought process is conveyed through her chats with her patient friend, Jordi and her husband, Harrison. While her decision might not make sense to you, she so eloquently describes why she’s doing them, you are 100% along for the ride.

The writing is the hero of All Fours. Miranda July’s phrasing is just so brilliant, emotion laced with humour and poignant insights. Absolutely character rather than plot driven, All Fours was such a fresh, engaging read. A blend of funny, disgusting, erotic, poignant and raw, Miranda July is all about delving into the small cracks of human connection. She writes like no other and I’m so here for it. Loved All Fours!

All Fours by Miranda July is absolutely belting and a must-read for every single woman/femme over 40 that is questioning their identity and life choices. In fact, you don't have to be over 40 for this book to resonate on so many levels. Miranda July is straight into my favourite authors list due to her truthful narrative, athenticity, integrity, honesty and humour, oh my word, the humour is bloody glorious!

Imagine telling everyone in your world that you are going to go on an immense cross-country road-trip, leaving your family behind, and than bunker down incognito in a tiny little motel where your life takes a completely different trajectory than you could have ever imagined. Spicy, insightful and so very funny, an absolute screamer on so many levels

Thank you to Netgalley, Canongate and Miranda July for this fantastic ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Clever, insane and glorious, this is the exploration of self, family and mid-life women we’ve all been waiting for.

Miranda July’s nameless narrator has all the emotions and no clue what to do with them.

The result is an intense, messy and sexy account of what happens if you dare.

Wonderful book, should be on prescription.

this felt like a fever dream in the best possible way.

All Fours by Miranda July is an erotic, raw and brutally honest depiction of aging, both in mind and body. July’s narrator interrogates her changing body through the manipulation of the strict constitutions of marriage, traditional family boundaries and (queer, white, American) womanhood.

I particularly enjoyed July’s exploration of obsession. the narrator’s minor celebrity status provides a unique angle on infatuation and touches on what happens when a fan’s infatuation is reciprocated. the narrator’s intense, yet restrained, relationship with a younger man is a whirlwind that consumes the first half of the novel. it is all encompassing for the narrator, yet evolves into a direction that I couldn’t have predicted.

I’m half the narrator’s age and haven’t experienced half the things she has, but I felt like I totally got her. it made me anxious to see her give in to the bizarrest of whims, yet by the end of each escapade or moment of madness her actions felt justified and I was on her side.

never have I read a novel that’s swept me along like All Fours. I’ve not had a lot of time to read recently, but this was so easy to dip in and out of, to pick up and instantly become immersed. July’s writing is beautifully fluid, at times deeply emotional, and often with a sense of humour. I’ve not read many other books that feature non binary characters either, so the narrator’s child, Sam, was a nice element!

I don’t think this book is for everyone (I think that any book targeted at everyone probably isn’t worth reading), but I’d urge everyone to pick it up and go with it - if this book is for you, it’ll be hugely rewarding. I would highly recommend to fans of Chris Kraus, Sheila Heti, Rachel Yoder and Lisa Taddeo.

All Fours is out 16th May. thank you to @netgalley and @canongatebooks for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Miranda July book and I was engrossed from the first line. The blurb sold a very different book and should include content warnings because it's not going to be for everyone. It's a raw, real, human story. I will be thinking of this story for a long time after finishing it.

Thank you to Canongate + NetGalley for the ARC! All Fours is out now! #AllFours #NetGalley

I feel like I have read so many books about women in their twenties going through it that I was so ready to read about a woman in her forties going through it. What a treat this is!

Twenty-odd minutes into a road trip from California to New York, our unnamed narrator pulls into a gas station and just, spends the next 2 weeks at a motel nearby. She lies to her husband and kid about where she is and the only person who knows is her best friend. Futilely hoping that she might get inspiration for her next work project, she embarks on a different, much weirder project instead.

This is so messy and so sexy. There is a frank discussion between the narrator and her friends about being perimenopausal and how that has affected each of them individually. It’s a look at the different ways a family can be, how a family can change. And there are some totally absurd moments in here. One so wild it made me bring my hand to my chest like a distressed maiden in ye olden days.

Loved loved loved this. Cannot wait to go back and read Miranda July’s previous books. Definitely one for the Melissa Broder fans.

I loved this so much that I immediately went out and bought the hardback so I can keep it on my shelf. It's such a joy to read a book focusing on a woman in her forties that has so much wit and yet so much emotional impact. I was already a fan of Miranda July but this is by far her best work yet.

Beautifully written, insanely clever and incredibly funny. It has been a very long time since a book touched me so deeply.

I found this a sassy, sexy and raw read - not my usual choice but admire the perspective taken. Niche but well written


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

I really liked this book. The unnamed narrator is a 45 year old perimenopausal woman with a plan to drive from California to New York, but her trip takes an.unexpected turn. The writing style is fresh, and there's a lot to learn through the conversations with old and new friends and the new experiences that she seizes. I'm in this demographic and I identified with some of the feelings and enjoyed the idea of opening yourself with all the possibilities that are out there. Recommended.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“…like Humpty Dumpty or a lesser egg.”
 
In the excellent All Fours (@canongatebooks - UK release 16th May, by Miranda July (@mirandajuly) the unnamed narrator, an artist in her mid-forties, has a transactional, if supportive, marriage that she feels is constantly on the brink of becoming more intimate. It‘s been years since she was a fresh new name and we get the sense that she hasn’t created a stir for a while, in fact her latest big payout was for a fragment of her work being used in an advertisement. 
 
Stung by the suggestion that she’s become too passive she decides to prove a point by driving from LA to New York for a meeting with a big name. When she pulls over for a stop she finds herself reluctant to continue her journey. She doesn’t feel much like going home, either. So far, so Doc Hollywood/Cars - big city protagonist gets diverted and realises the true meaning of life, end credits.  But this is Miranda July, who likes to subvert our expectations (and pretty much everything else) and will always turn away from the obvious options. The stop-over is barely fifteen minutes from her home, she can see landmarks she passes taking her child to school.

This impasse in her life, is it artistic, is it spiritual, is it emotional, is it sexual? Or is it, as a friend suggests, the menopause? 
 
Fertility issues and frank sexual matters, while seriously impactful on the characters, are handled with empathy and humour. July does a wonderful job of bringing all kinds of intimacy alive on the page, and that includes sex: All Fours is effortlessly sexy - that is, it doesn’t have three pages of fully-mapped groping in each chapter, instead the sex is vividly conjured in short sentences, often only a few words, which capture superbly the powerful intimacy of a mutual connection, be the characters exchanging a caress, a kiss, or something more earthy.

I’m a *massive* fan of July’s work and with this hugely enjoyable novel she reaches deep and brings some rich perspectives on sexuality, aging, and making the best life for yourself. It is funny, compassionate, hopeful, and has a wonderfully mutinous tone.

A sort-of-famous 40-something artist is meant to be taking a road trip to New York, but turns off the road after twenty minutes and instead spends weeks in a nearby motel, renovating her room and diving into an emotional crisis that she will emerge from slowly, then all at once. I didn't know what to expect from this book, but it absolutely floored me - the deeply funny, eccentric narrator's voice at first made me think this would be lighthearted, but like 'Sorrow and Bliss', another book that made me laugh and cry, it goes somewhere much deeper, exploring maternal trauma and slow healing that happens so thoughtfully that I didn't spot it until it felt absolutely true. It's a meditation on middle age, motherhood, artistic ambitions, marriage and monogamy that will offer something to everyone, if you're able to lose yourself in the voice. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a review copy!