All Fours

A Novel

By: Miranda July

Narrated by: Miranda July

Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

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 novel that presses into that tender bruise about the anxiety of aging, of what it means to have a female body that is aging, and wanting the freedom to live a fuller life…Deeply funny and achingly true.”—LA Times

“July’s novel is hot and weird and captivating and one of the most entertaining, deranged, and moving depictions of lust and romantic mania I’ve ever read.”—New York Magazine

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

Original

Not always comfortable, but couldn’t look away. Insightful with words used like paint. Author does interesting narration.

Thankful

This book was exactly what I needed and I’m so thankful for Miranda July for giving it to us. Now I have to go find a picture of the cliff-graph!

Psychological, surreal and sublime

Miranda July’s prose are like surreal psychological poetry, She has a gift for elevating mundane details into sublime unsettling beauty.

riveting, bizarre and poignant

This is yet another incredible work by Miranda July. Unlike anything else that you will ever read, hearing her describe Life and thoughts and experiences as if you were an alien who just arrived and are taking note. spectacular and disorienting the way only a special novel can pluck you right out of reality.
Highly recommend.

The drollest droll…+lol & very touching

Beautifully written, expertly plotted (if that’s even the right word for what happens in this amazingly intertwined story). I love what this author does with language, and the sophistication of her storytelling is always engaging. Even when the tale goes to places that may be frightening to explore, there is a big, courageous, and very honest human heart beating beneath the telling.

I can’t believe this happened!

I fell in love with Davey too listening to this. Was often struck by the way she described simple things we all experience but don’t talk about out loud. Lovely character arc who finds herself intimately in the end and has great friends along the way of all her adventures

Absolutely stunning

A raw and authentic narrative of the female experience. Honest, hilarious and beautiful, my favorite book of 2024.

Infinite

I don’t know how to describe the way this book hit me in the solar plexus with the force of the universe in the most perfect and timely way

Descriptions—in ways I would have never dreamed describing things. And so resonant.

The ending—I’ll have to audit again. Maybe I was multitasking too much. I didn’t get it.

Honesty

Excellent story of a moment in so many women’s pre menopausal lives. Excellent writer. For the deep smart girls.