On this edition of ST, a conversation with Miranda July, the noted filmmaker, writer, and performance artist. Best known for her films "The Future" and "Me and You and Everyone We Know" -- the latter of which won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Caméra d'Or at Cannes -- July is also the author of an acclaimed short-story collection, "No One Belongs Here More Than You." She chats with us about her first novel, just out, which is called "The First Bad Man." In praising this work, New York Magazine noted: "July's work seems to grow deeper and more endearing with each iteration, while retaining its hysterical-neurotic charms and crisp, colloquial wit. July's first novel is a test of her range, which she ably passes. Single, middle-aged Cheryl Glickman expands from a collection of oddities -- a baby obsession, a hallucinated ball in her throat, bizarre sexual fantasies -- into someone with real longings, relationships, and opportunities for genuine growth and redemption.” And further, as per The New York Times Book Review: "Very funny.... The novel exploded my expectations and became unlike anything I've ever read...hilarious.... Like many of us, July seems to have unbridled daydreams. Unlike most of us, she has wicked follow-through.... July is exceptional at tracing the imaginative contours of sexuality.... She is not after perfection: She loves the raw edges of emotion, she likes people and things to be a little worn.... 'The First Bad Man' makes for a wry, smart companion on any day. It's warm, it has a heartbeat and a pulse. This is a book that is painfully alive."
"The First Bad Man" -- The Debut Novel by Indie Filmmaker and Performace Artist Miranda July
