PBR Book Club's March Selection: Miranda July's No One Belongs Here More Than You

First off, our Absurdistan discussion fast approaches: next Monday evening at the Tap!

Second, after much Twitter banter, the March selection has been officially selected! Just when I was poised to inflict a profound month-long inquiry into Jewish cultural memory on you fine folks (with Nathan Englander's much-praised new collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank), a vocal contingent of local scenesters rose up and said, Nah, let's get twee with Miranda July instead.

So we'll be reading No One Belongs Here More Than You. Yes, it's a collection of short stories, which is a first for PBR Book Club (but likely well-suited to our habits: aim for at least one beer per story).

I recommend you also read this New York Times Magazine profile of July, and make sure to watch her two films prior to the March meeting as well (since I want to talk A LOT about that damnable kittycat narrator of The Future).

And please visit the website for No One Belongs Here and click through the messages using the red arrow in bottom right corner. If you stick it out without finding it insufferable, you're probably ready to embark on this journey with us.

And also ponder these thoughts on short stories (which comes from a review of the Englander book that we are not reading):

"A short story is by definition an odder, more eccentric creature than a novel: a trailer, a fling, a warm-up act, a bouillon cube, a championship game in one inning. Irresolution and ambiguity become it; it’s a first date rather than a marriage. When is it mightier than the novel? When its elisions speak as loudly as its lines."