The First Bad Man

If you've seen Miranda July's movies or read her story collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You, you might have an idea of what to expect from her first novel. But otherwise, how to explain Miranda July, her blend of naiveté and perversity, of prickly loneliness and bottomless desire? The childlike goofiness and near-Portlandia quirkiness are what you might notice (and dismiss) at first, but what makes her a real artist, and what makes The First Bad Man a moving, disturbing, and heart-filling work of art, is the originality and commitment with which she sees her characters' desires through.