Miranda July Books in Order (Last checked 2026-02-06)

Miranda July’s books don’t form a single ongoing storyline. Instead, her work splits into two reader-friendly lanes:

• Fiction (a story collection plus two novels): easiest for most readers.
• Art / nonfiction books (project-based, visual, and format-driven): best read when you want something less “novel-shaped.”

If you only want one straightforward plan, read the fiction in publication order. It preserves how her voice and obsessions sharpen over time.

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The cleanest reading order for most readers: Fiction first

Fiction in publication order

1. No One Belongs Here More Than You (2007): Sixteen off-kilter, tender stories where lonely people make brave, awkward bids for connection.
2. The First Bad Man (2015): A tightly wound woman’s orderly life is detonated by an unwanted housemate and a relationship that refuses simple labels.
3. All Fours (2024): A midlife road trip swerves into a private detour that becomes an intense experiment in desire, identity, and reinvention.

If you’re spoiler-sensitive: these are standalones, so you won’t ruin plots across books. Publication order is about tone and artistic evolution, not continuity.

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Art and nonfiction books: Separate lane, read anytime

These don’t connect to the fiction’s characters or events. They’re best treated as “choose when the premise appeals.”

• Learning to Love You More (2007, with Harrell Fletcher): A participatory art project in book form, built from creative assignments that turn ordinary life into an exhibit.
• It Chooses You (2011): A hybrid of interviews, photos, and reflection, shaped around encounters with everyday people and the stories hiding in plain sight.
• Miranda July (2020): A wide-angle monograph that gathers her work across mediums, meant for browsing as much as reading.
• Services (2022): An art-object book that begins with an unsettling solicitation and expands into a long-form meditation on risk, attention, and exchange.

Format note: Some of these titles are art editions with unusual formats and limited availability. They still “fit” a books list, but they don’t behave like typical trade novels.

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Picking your starting book (without homework)

• Start with No One Belongs Here More Than You if you want short pieces that show her range quickly.
• Start with The First Bad Man if you want a single, sustained story with escalating strangeness and emotional payoff.
• Start with All Fours if you want her most recent long-form fiction and you’re in the mood for a bolder midlife pivot.

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Do you ever need a different order?

Not really. There isn’t a “timeline order” separate from publication, and the art/nonfiction books don’t require any setup. The only reason to change the order is taste:

• Short attention span right now: begin with the story collection.
• You want the biggest immersion: begin with either novel.
• You’re here for the art practice: jump straight to the monograph or project books.

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FAQ

Are Miranda July’s books connected to her films?
They share themes and sensibilities, but they aren’t direct novelizations or a single shared plot world.

Is there a “best” first novel?
The First Bad Man is usually the easiest entry if you want one book that feels fully self-contained and distinctly hers.

Are the art books required to understand the fiction?
No. They stand on their own, and the fiction stands on its own.

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Bottom line

For a clear, satisfying path: read the fiction in order (2007 → 2015 → 2024), then treat the art and nonfiction books as optional side doors you can open whenever the premise calls to you.