When I was in New York City this past Summer, I made sure to make it to my favorite spot in the city – The Strand. The Strand is the most amazing book store you can possibly imagine and I spent over an hour reaping the bounty of their shelves. One book that particularly stood out to me had an all mustard-yellow cover. Whoever said you can’t judge a book by its cover was far from right in this case. The off-yellow of the cover wound up perfectly matching the sort of off-beat humor and quirk of this book. The book actually turned out to be a collection of short stories called No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July. I’ve always loved short stories and the description on the back of the book really made me feel that this was the book for me. “July gives the most seemingly insignificant moments a sly potency,” it says. She does indeed. The power of these stories is the way in which they give voice to all the thoughts in one’s mind that are so often silenced for their out-of-placeness in common culture. Her stories reveal the depth of human complexity through seemingly insignificant experiences. I was able to see myself in so many of these characters and hear my own unspoken thoughts through all of their voices, no matter how extreme or unlikely the circumstance. I felt truly touched and inspired by this work. Miranda July has a presence in film, writing, and art and has just released her second book entitled The First Bad Man, a novel. I highly recommend No one belongs here more than you. It takes you on a journey of profound empathy that never fails to reveal something to the reader about his or herself.
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