5 Things You Didn't Know About Miranda July
1. Her story 'Roy Spivey' is about a girl who meets a famous actor on a plane. Since the story's publication in The New Yorker, any number of theories have been suggested as to the real life identity of 'Roy' (most notably at Perpetual Folly in a comments section active since 2007). To date, none have been verified, if indeed there is a real life counterpart. You can listen to the story here, and make up your own mind as to whether 'Roy Spivey' is great fiction, clever semi-autobiography or a mix of the two.
2. Her debut short story collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You won Ireland's Frank O'Connor International Short Story award in 2007, beating out twice shortlisted Israeli author Etgar Keret and New Zealand's Charlotte Grimshaw.
3. Miranda July's short film Are You The Favourite Person of Anybody? stars July and also features actor John C. Reilly as a curious interviewer asking the revealing question "Are you anybody's favourite person?" to passers by. It was shot on a budget of $150. Miguel Arteta, who directed, was still in love with her at the time, and in an interview with WHOLPHIN said, "The shoot was painless but sure enough, by the time I started editing, we were broken up. This little short is like a rear-view mirror that survived a fabulous, painful crash."
4. July's first standalone publication was 'The Boy from Lam Kien', a handmade book published by Cloverfield Press. It features the aforementioned short story of the title, which is about an agoraphobe's encounter with young boy At eleven pages, it's not exactly War and Peace, but by all reports it's quite lovely.
5. In addition to directing films, Miranda July has also appeared in the occasional music video. most notably for alternative American act Blonde Redhead, in their film clip Top Ranking. The clip, directed by July's husband Mike Mills, features July striking one pose a second to the utterly inimitable vocals of Kazu Mikino and a shifting, shaky instrumental backdrop. There's a definite contrast here between July's movable clotheshorse in the video and the fairly traumatised lyrics of Top Ranking. As to what it all means, I'll leave that up to Future Shipwreck's Graham Kolbeins, who claims that:
"The simplicity of these videos (Mills made five in total for Blonde Redhead) subverts the complexity of the music, separating the visual element from the music we’re ostensibly being sold. In varying degrees, the songs take a back seat, becoming subliminal or taking on the function of a forgotten memory echoing above a scene we’re watching unfold."
Your thoughts: How do Miranda July's stories make you feel? Do you lean more to one of her media platforms than the other, such as her written work over her films, or vice versa?
Read more: My earlier review of Miranda July's 'The Swim Team', a personal favourite of mine amidst so many great stories in No One Belongs Here More than You.
