No One Belongs Here More Than You

1) "It was a quiet sound, but it woke me up because it was a human sound."

2) "You always feel like you are the only one in the world, like everyone else is crazy for each other, but it's not true. Generally, people don't like each other very much. And that goes for friends, too. Sometimes I lie in bed trying to decide which of my friends I truly care about, and I always come to the same conclusion: none of them. I thought these were just my starter friends and the real ones would come along later. But no. These are my real friends."

3) "In an ideal world, we would have been orphans."

4) "Hi, is Rick in?
No, he's not. Can I take a message?
Can you tell him to call me as soon as possible?
Where's the fire?
What?
What's the hurry?
I'm at loose ends.
Oh. I'll tell him.
Thus, over the years, I came to know her. Not the way I knew him; I didn't watch the minute tides of her sweat roll in and out over the course of each day. But, like ivy, we grow where there is room for us. She seemed to have room for me; she never turned away in the pauses that allow for turning away. She never inquired, but she never recoiled, either. This is a quality that I look for in a person, not recoiling. Some people need a red carpet rolled out in front of them in order to walk forward into friendship. They can't see the tiny outstretched hands all around them, everywhere, like leaves on trees."

Miranda July's style is very evident, and shows throughout her film "Me And You And Everyone We Know" and very much here, in her short-story collection.

I feel as though I could easily have become irritated by her characters, where the main person often attains the same view as she, seemingly over and over again. In some way. On the other hand, try and find a truly versatile writer, in that sense. And there are a lot more positives than negatives while reading this, put it that way.

July does know how to write compellingly and in-depth, which I think is often hard when it comes to short-stories. These pieces vary in length, from two pages to something twentyish. The plots vary from story to story and often relate to basic human needs. Love, sex, money, work, friendship. Not in a corny, Oprah-would-love-this way, but rather in quirky ones, more emotive than intellectual. I can't really pigeon-hole this.

Quite short, I'll say this is recommendable for all.