Critics: Miranda July's first novel 'The First Bad Man' is a well-done transition to the form
Miranda July is releasing her first novel with the publication of the book 鈥淭he First Bad Man,鈥� which hits shelves on Jan. 13.聽
July has written short stories, including the collection 鈥淣o One Belongs Here More Than You,鈥� and has directed and starred in films such as 鈥淭he Future鈥� and 鈥淢e and You and Everyone We Know.鈥� Her upcoming book 鈥淭he First Bad Man鈥� centers on Cheryl Glickman, a woman whose intense fantasy life is disrupted when her bosses ask her if their young daughter can stay with Cheryl.
Amazon named 鈥淏ad鈥� to its list of the best books of January and Amazon editorial director Sara Nelson noted it鈥檚 not exactly a comfortable read. 鈥淭his is a very weird book,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 purposefully disturbing鈥� [it鈥檚] very complicated.鈥�
It鈥檚 also received other positive reviews, with giving it a starred assessment. 鈥淭his well-written, compelling novel will delight the open-minded reader looking for something new,鈥� Kate Gray of Massachusetts鈥� Worcester Public Library wrote. 鈥淚t will satisfy July's fans and win her many more.鈥� And wrote that July鈥檚 move from short stories was 鈥渟uccessful.鈥� 鈥淛uly鈥檚 writing is strange and beautiful, with enough cleverness woven into the characters鈥� strange fantasy lives to keep readers contemplating the family roles and games adults undertake.鈥� writer Caroline Goldstein also named 鈥淏ad鈥� on her list of the best books of January, writing of her experience with the book, 鈥淚 found myself laughing and cringing in equal measure, and even if I don鈥檛聽totally聽understand everything July is trying to say or do here, I鈥檝e become a believer.鈥�
Meanwhile, Karina Longworth of wrote that 鈥淭he First Bad Man聽feels visionary,鈥� though she noted that 鈥渢he tissue connecting these segments into an overarching narrative is sometimes a bit too neat (coincidences abound), and sometimes compromised by the fact that Cheryl spends much of the book as a pathologically solipsistic unreliable narrator, although that鈥檚 also a selling point 鈥� July has an enviable talent for sketching inner life as all-consuming.鈥� And found that 鈥淸the book鈥檚] strange details sometimes seem to slide into heavy-handed attempts to shock, at their best, they deliver an emotional slap made sharper and more fitting by their oddity. A sometimes-funny, sometimes-upsetting, surprisingly absorbing novel that lives up to the expectations created by July's earlier work and demonstrates her ability to carry the qualities of her short fiction into the thickly fleshed-out world of a novel.鈥�
