All Fours

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, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of 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 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations 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.

 

 

 

Miranda July’s All Fours is an unhinged, raw, and darkly funny exploration of perimenopause—more than just a midlife crisis, it’s a deep dive into longing, obsession, and the blurred lines between sexual and creative freedom.

Semi-autobiographical, the novel follows a queer woman in a heterosexual marriage, grappling with desire, societal expectations, and mortality. Death haunts her—her grandmother and aunt both leapt from the same window decades apart, and her child was nearly stillborn. Yet, even as she fixates on estrogen’s impending decline, she’s gripped by an insatiable lust, masturbating, having sex, and sharing an oddly tender moment when her crush removes her bloody tampon.

At its core, All Fours explores every woman’s fantasy: a space of one’s own, free from partners and children, where she can be fully herself. Women are often told to make time for themselves, but never how. July doesn’t offer solutions—she offers desire and permission.

July delivers a fearless, messy, and deeply human story—desperate, horny, and alive.