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A review by whitmc
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
5.0
Deliciously strange. Definitely the weirdest book I have ever read. And disturbing at some (OK many) parts, but not in a standard disturbing way, in an "UM, WHAT is happening? OK, this is happening...wait WHAT?" kind of way. But really good...although I am hesitant to pass it on because I feel like it requires a disclaimer along the lines of "I know this is weird, don't think this is a representation for what the inside of my head is like but sink in and appreciate how perfectly strange it is."
The main character, Cheryl, is awkward, alone and lives essentially inside of her head, yet functions OK in the world as what we probably all know of as "that odd coworker that lives alone." Until she doesn't live alone anymore, and her strangeness blossoms, develops, finds a home, runs screaming...it's all just interesting. And whatever July did, she executed it perfectly.
My favorite part of the book was the surprising and spot-on descriptions of life. My favorites:
"Was I like honey thinking it's a small bear, not realizing the bear is just the shape of its bottle?" and
“You know what? Forget what I just said. You’re already a part of this. You will eat, you will laugh at stupid things, you will stay up all night just to see what it feels like, you will fall painfully in love, you will have babies of your own, you will doubt and regret and yearn and keep a secret. You will get old and decrepit, and you will die, exhausted from all that living. That is when you get to die. Not now.”
I listened to it on audio, and it is read by Miranda July, which just adds to the whole perfect picture of this little strange world.
The main character, Cheryl, is awkward, alone and lives essentially inside of her head, yet functions OK in the world as what we probably all know of as "that odd coworker that lives alone." Until she doesn't live alone anymore, and her strangeness blossoms, develops, finds a home, runs screaming...it's all just interesting. And whatever July did, she executed it perfectly.
My favorite part of the book was the surprising and spot-on descriptions of life. My favorites:
"Was I like honey thinking it's a small bear, not realizing the bear is just the shape of its bottle?" and
“You know what? Forget what I just said. You’re already a part of this. You will eat, you will laugh at stupid things, you will stay up all night just to see what it feels like, you will fall painfully in love, you will have babies of your own, you will doubt and regret and yearn and keep a secret. You will get old and decrepit, and you will die, exhausted from all that living. That is when you get to die. Not now.”
I listened to it on audio, and it is read by Miranda July, which just adds to the whole perfect picture of this little strange world.