I read this book several years ago while I was at university. I remember taking it to a park with me, which I stumbled across by accident on one of my long drives. It was a National Trust park called Sheffield Park Garden, and I used to go there on my own a lot after I discovered it, trying to recreate the long route I had found to get there. It was a huge park with lots of big lakes, and I still probably haven't seen all of it. I remember taking this book with me and taking a seat on a bench and reading some of the stories while I was there.
I decided to re-read it again recently, as when I was putting together my rainbow shelves, the memory of the cover design caught my interest again, and I decided to give it another read through.
I really like this collection, as it's very unusual and quirky, and also pretty sad. A lot of the characters all feel very similar, quite lost and a bit odd, so I guess I can relate to that quite easily as I often feel a bit lost and odd. Some of the stories are funnier than others - I particularly like the Swimming Lessons story. They all feel like they're about quite insignificant moments in your life that are actually much bigger moments than you realise. Makes me feel deep thinking about it.
I like it and I'd like to see more from Miranda July.
In general, I'm not sure how I feel about short fiction. I know some people, like my old boss from Waterstones, love it, however I'm not decided. There is something about it that I do really like, such as how ephemeral it feels, however I do also sometimes feel unsatisfied reading short stories. I have a few other in my collection, so I may try dipping into them now and again.
Next: Why Have Kids? by Jessica Valenti
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