No One Belongs Here More Than You

By: Miranda July

Narrated by: Miranda July

Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2007 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.

In her remarkable stories of seemingly ordinary people living extraordinary lives, Miranda July reveals how a single moment can change everything. Whether writing about a middle-aged woman's obsession with Prince William, or an aging factory worker who has never been in love, the result is startling, sexy, and tender by turns. One of the most acclaimed debuts of recent years, Miranda July is a brilliant new voice in fiction.

©2007 Miranda July (P)2010 Canongate Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Blisteringly good." ( Guardian)

"July's inventive tales swing from laugh-out-loud funny to heart-clenchingly sad." ( Daily Telegraph)

'These stories are incredibly charming, beautifully written, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and even, a dozen or so times, profound.' (Dave Eggers)

'Laden with offbeat, emotionally isolated characters...mordantly funny.' ( Vogue)

'A magically oddball study of depression, repression, envy, loneliness and aimlessness - and rarely has such a thing been so entertaining.' ( Time Out)

'Weird doesn't begin to cover it, but wonderful (in the literal sense of the word, as in full of wonder) does.' ( Elle)

'The stories and story-fragments keep just the right amount back; twist into something surprising and disconcerting. They are charming and funny, too.' ( Daily Telegraph)

Very entertaining

If you could sum up No One Belongs Here More Than You in three words, what would they be?

Smart, funny, light

What did you like best about this story?

It has all the elements to quickly transport you to the author's story.

Poignant

Unusual and touching, mind expanding, beautiful and sometimes excruciatingly painful. These stories contain an eerie and touching honesty.

Hilarious & uplifting

I loved this! It tastes of Werther’s Originals. The characters of these stories are beautifully woven together through a first person voice that observes and reflects an imposter perspective while at the same time reassuring me that these characters belong perfectly in their worlds. Also, I laughed out loud loads because it is just hilarious.

Miranda July is a quiet genius

This collection of original short stories covers brave ground in examining themes of love (requited and unrequited), sexual desire and isolation - reworking these familiar literary themes through honest and perhaps somewhat jaded eyes.

Celebrated performance artist, director and writer Miranda July has arguably created a collection here deserving of as much critical acclaim as her beautiful film 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' (2005). Like the film, this compilation tackles difficult and awkward subjects with a sensitive, sometimes touching and always frank tone. Due to this frankness, listeners of a sensitive disposition should be warned that there is sometimes powerful language and sexual/deviant themes in some of the stories, although it doesn't seem contrived/shock-value in the context of these plots - the majority of them first-person monologues.

July reads these stories with the heartfelt voice-cracking earnestness that they deserve, although a listener can't help but feel that she may have a mischievous twinkle in her eye or tongue firmly in-cheek at the same time.

Especially important listening for anyone experiencing an existential crisis, or even those who wish to understand the nature of the world and the private/hidden lives of those around them a little better.

Marvel at my manufactured quirkiness....

Miranda July is clearly the woman for whom the word ditsy was invented. These slight stories, read out in the sort of dead pan American voice that is desperately trying to make them sound interesting, are really just random streams of consciousness with no tangible substance. I gave up after the third as I found I had completely zoned out.

white melancholy

Contains mild spoilers.

I do feel bad giving only 3 stars, if I could have given 3.5 I would. The stories are beautifully written and performed, July's dialogue is excellent and feels extremely real, she's funny and witty. What bothered me to the point that I had to take a break about halfway through was the fact that all stories seemed to be variations of each other and they all seemed to lack purpose. It was always (or almost always? I can't think of an exception) about a woman's life being destroyed, or about her being stuck in a rut and trying to get out of it but being unable to - disturbingly, incest seems to be a bit of a motif, and while I think the last story was meant to be about a mothering kind of love, it read like grooming. Some stretches felt like Joy Williams in that they both don't shy away from the surreal, but to me, July's stories, while observant and eloquent, lacked purpose; I left empty handed, so to speak.

Dazzlingly unique

Where do I start? This was probably the best collection of short stories I’ve ever read. July’s writing style is really unique and hearing her read it out loud creates a interesting almost lucid feeling. She finds moments of humanity and pathos in the weirdest/most unlikely places. The characters in the stories are so eccentric and full of idiosyncrasies and neurosis; at first these can be slightly jarring but as the stories progress it’s amazing how you can catch little glimpses of yourself and moments of universality. It gets weird at times. A lot of the stories focus on people at the fringes of society- but July’s prose keeps it entertaining throughout

Couldn't get past the first story

Would you try another book written by Miranda July or narrated by Miranda July?

Never. Sorry to be so harsh.

Would you ever listen to anything by Miranda July again?

Nope

How could the performance have been better?

My focus was on trying to find some small facet of the story that I could latch on to, to maintain my rapidly diminishing interest. Didn't pay too much attention to the way it was being read.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

You can write dull books about interesting subjects, and fascinating books about the banal. But this was a very boring book about a terminally uninteresting subject. I fully appreciate that I'm the worst kind of critic, writing a review having listened to about 5% of the whole book. Bear in mind, I'm not getting paid for this, and that it's also a stinker of a book.

Any additional comments?

Steer clear.

Wonderful writing

A lot of small, well-written stories. So many unusual metaphors, and unusual stories that you really remember in the end. One of the best collection of stories I have ever read (unfortunately though, I mostly read books) and it makes me want to read from her.

Pithy -

like a feminine version of Ray carver - these stories are funny and astutely observed.

Title says it all

A work of genius, when it wasn't irritating. Am going to read it again immeadiatly.

Quirky, edgy and entertaining

You gotta laugh... or cry.

These short stories are all quirky, often odd, humorous, or sad. Many are sensual, exploring sexuality, love and friendship. Others are sad, revealing loneliness, isolation and self-doubt.

But... they are all entertaining, engaging, edgy and... worth a listen.

Perfect snapshots

Funny, moving, toe curling- these insights into the everyday and the bizarre are perfectly narrated