All Fours

A Novel

By: Miranda July

Narrated by: Miranda July

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR

A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 10 FICTION BOOKS OF 2024

ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY:
THE NEW YORKER ● VOGUE ● FINANCIAL TIMES ● OPRAH DAILY ● VULTURE ● VOX

The New York Times bestselling author returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and surprising novel about a woman upending her life

“A frank novel about a midlife awakening, which is funnier and more boldly human than you ever quite expect . . . nothing short of riveting.” —Vogue

“All Fours has spurred a whisper network of women fantasizing about desire and freedom. . . . It’s the talk of every group text."—The New York Times

“All Fours possessed me. I picked it up and neglected my life until the last page, and then I started begging every woman I know to read it as soon as possible.” —The Cut

A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.

Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.

©2024 Miranda July (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“An irreverent and brilliantly touching story of a woman’s quest for freedom.”—Oprah Daily

"Atmospheric, sexy and totally unexpected."—People Magazine

“July’s candor, her fearlessness, in describing the unwieldy emotional and biological nuances of this time of life is refreshing...reading her new novel, as a so-called woman of a certain age, I felt seen in a way that is rare. It was invigorating.”—Wall Street Journal

I feel so seen

I preordered this book on a whim. I had never read anything by the author and I had no idea what the book was about. I just saw in a list of “we’re excited it’s upcoming” and I thought “life’s short. Buy the book”.
I’m a 42 year old middle class woman. I feel so seen. While every aspect of this book doesn’t fit me exactly, this book fits me exactly. Like poetry, it’s beautiful to read/ hear your feelings or thoughts put to words in a beautiful succinct way.
Also it solved the mystery of why I’ve had such bad vertigo since March. 😂😂

I highly recommend this book and I’m recommending it to everyone I know!

Brilliant, heartrending, sexy, funny!

It was like listening to a friend tell me about an agonizing, ecstatic, norm-busting episode in her fantastically unusual life, if that friend were 1) a world-class storyteller, and 2) capable of deep, particular, rare emotions and 3) able to describe those emotions with stunning affection for herself and everyone around her. And her voice is so perfect—hoarse and sexy, intimate and smart. I found myself talking back to her, encouraging her, like sista, you got this, and I got you. Miranda July made me feel known and understood, as if I were telling her MY story. This may be the advantage of listening over reading: to be led with perfect assurance through a great book by its author.

Note: in places the intimacy is unfiltered and raunchy and messy, like the acts it describes. Don’t cringe, because in the end this book will help any woman get through anything. I experienced it as a privilege to have access to Ms. July’s unbridled self. But I did hit the pause button whenever the kids came in. Or anyone who didn’t love me.

Trigger warning - possible spoiler

I went into this book blind. It seemed to have a quirky feel to it and I enjoy books with quirky characters. The portion of the book that I listened to was very well written and I was invested in the main character. Unfortunately I did have to stop listening because of a very detailed scene regarding fetal maternal hemorrhage. I fall into the category of rare women who have experienced this devastation and I was not expecting to be listening to a birth story that so closely mirrored my own. I have to be in the right mindset and prepared to be able to handle that. Because it is so rare, I know my review will not impact a majority of readers, but for the tiny percentage of people that may have experienced FMH I wanted to share a trigger warning.

To the author: Although I was unable to complete this book, on the chance that there may be additional story line regarding fetal maternal hemorrhage, I want to thank you for giving a voice to this rare medical event. I imagine you must know someone who has experienced this to be able to provide such a detailed and spot on depiction of the trauma. The emotions, the confusion, the sights and the sounds were so specific and accurate. I was immediately transported back to my own FMH from many years ago. Unfortunately I was just unprepared for that and it was too much for me at this time. I hope I will one day be able to come back to this book with a prepared mindset and give it another listen because it was a real joy to be in the mind of this character.

relatable. from a middle aged woman

I no longer feel alone after reading this.
Deeply honest, unflinching, daring and sincere look at a woman in her forties, staring down the barrel of peri menopause.

Eloquently written and performed

Fave book of 2024 💜 she makes the mundane burst with color and meaning. I want to listen to it all over again

Miranda July’s vulnerable honesty

This book was so weird and wonderful and creative and inspiring. Miranda July is an absolute treasure for her willingness to dig into her deepest vulnerabilities, turn them into art, and then share them bravely with us.
Everything about this book was so refreshing. It’s the first book I’ve read since I can remember that I immediately wanted to start again.

Excellent nonsense

I always enjoy both the nonsense and revelations about the mundane that MJ uses to craft her yarns.

She gets it

Miranda July out here doing gods work. I loved every minute of it- can I feel seen by a book? It is so.

To much sex ruined the deeper story

Part mental illness, part mid life crisis, and
a lot of over the top sexual addiction. The
main character literally lived in fear of
losing her libido as she aged a fear that as
an older women has never once occurred
to me.
I have never felt that we were meant to
only have sex with one person our whole
life but in our culture I’ve never imagined
how it would work to have that freedom
and still maintain a stable family
environment. Maybe some day far in the
future we’ll figure out how to make that
work.
I didn’t enjoy this book because it was
just too laden with sexuality for my liking
with that said it is well written and deeply
explores the human condition

A train wreck

Just kept listening to find out what would happen next. She is definitely not a likable ….