Books › It Chooses You
It Chooses You
224 pages
A tender, voyeuristic stroll through the living rooms of strangers, fueled by creative anxiety and a desperate need for connection.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a long, aimless walk through Los Angeles with a deeply observant, slightly anxious friend. It is a meandering, intimate exploration of procrastination that accidentally becomes a profound meditation on human connection. The narrative drifts seamlessly between the author's own creative paralysis and her tender, voyeuristic encounters with strangers selling mundane items in the classifieds. The mood is quietly melancholic yet punctuated by flashes of wry humor and startling empathy, wrapping the reader in a cozy, sun-faded atmosphere of urban isolation. With its deceptively simple, conversational prose, this is a perfect companion for artists battling self-doubt, or anyone who finds themselves fascinated by the hidden, ordinary lives unfolding behind closed doors.
- Mood
- intimate
- melancholic
- voyeuristic
- quietly surreal
- Tone
- vulnerable
- inquisitive
- self-deprecating
- tender
- wry
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- creative anxiety · urban isolation · hidden lives of strangers · the beauty of the mundane · procrastination as discovery
- The writing
- Conversational and deceptively simple, punctuated by moments of startling emotional clarity and hyper-specific observation.
- The arc
- Begins in a state of anxious creative paralysis and slowly opens outward into a tender, expansive appreciation for the strange, quiet lives of others.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love quirky, empathetic character studies and creatives seeking comfort in the messy, procrastinatory reality of making art.
Content notes
- loneliness
- aging
- creative burnout
About the book
While writing the script for her 2011 film The Future, Miranda July sought inspiration from the most unlikely of places: A weekly classified ads booklet.
It Chooses You includes a series of interviews the author conducted with people who placed ads for various items or services, along with short snippets concerning her writing process for The Future plus some autobiographical notes. The book also includes photographs by Brigitte Sire, who accompanied July for the interviews.
Description from Open Library.
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