Miranda July would have loved the strange, poignant appearance of an aardvark in the hourly BBC news reports; it was at the same time very funny and intensely sad. And in that way, no one in the book is anything like a real person: Instead, the characters here are all a bundle of quirks and damages that we’re supposed to find adorable and funny. Her protagonists’ most common ailment is a symptom of celebrity magazine culture – especially rampant in her home town of Los Angeles – in which they come to believe that life always could, indeed should, be more glamorous than it is.

She then sent the cassette to the participants, and to subscribers to the series, and offered them for sale to others interested. Miranda grew up in Berkeley, California, where she first began writing plays and staging them at the all-ages club 924 Gilman. Miranda July's is a beautiful, odd, original voice - seductive, sometimes erotic, and a little creepy, too. Somebody somewhere is shaking with excitement because something tremendous is about to happen to this person.

In the most moving story of the collection, “Something That Needs Nothing”, a teenager runs away from home with her best friend, Pip, and finds herself sinking further and further into destitution, and eventually total abandonment. To make it more impressive, she manages to do this and keep the stories concise at the same time; while admittedly most of the characters come to assume similar voices, she nonetheless creates complex, unique narratives in often fewer than ten pages. The creator and star of Me and You and Everyone We Know presents a collection of short works featuring profoundly sympathetic protagonists whose inherent sensitivities render them particularly vulnerable to unexpected events. They both have little medals that they are pinning on this person; they are badges of great honor and strength. She performed this piece in venues around the world, including the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

One of the most acclaimed and successful short-story collections, No One Belongs Here More Than You confirms Miranda July as a spectacularly original, iconic and important voice today. And the real joy of them is this: by expressing isolation with such refreshing and startling clarity you will never feel so isolated again.Sometimes they've actually read one of her stories or seen her movie, but sometimes they just resent her fame or adore her blog.