
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
Buy new:
-35% $11.71$11.71
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
Save with Used - Good
$6.28$6.28
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: ZBK Books

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- To view this video download Flash Player
-
-
VIDEO
-
No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories Paperback – May 6, 2008
Purchase options and add-ons
In No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July gives the most seemingly insignificant moments a sly potency. A benign encounter, a misunderstanding, a shy revelation can reconfigure the world. Her characters engage awkwardly—they are sometimes too remote, sometimes too intimate. With great compassion and generosity, July reveals her characters’ idiosyncrasies and the odd logic and longing that govern their lives. No One Belongs Here More Than You is a stunning debut, the work of a writer with a spectacularly original and compelling voice.
- Print length205 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMay 6, 2008
- Dimensions5.25 x 0.5 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100743299418
- ISBN-13978-0743299411
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together

Frequently purchased items with fast delivery
Editorial Reviews
Review
“[July’s] worlds feel real and surreal and desperately sad and filled with what one character calls ‘secret joy,’ at the same time.” —The Seattle Times
“Who will Miranda July’s work appeal to? To borrow the name of her lovely first film, Me and You and Everyone We Know.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Miranda July is graced with an unabashed love for the basic humanity of her characters.” —The New York Observer
“[An] astonishingly good collection of short stories.” —Vogue
“Miranda July has a true intimacy with damaged hearts.” —Time Out New York
“Whimsical…extraordinary tales…at the core of each strange, often comic tale lies the basic human need for love and understanding.” —The Village Voice
“July is near perfect here, writing with empathy and sweetness and drawing humor from the itchily uncomfortable.” —Los Angeles Magazine
“Earnest, to tales of love.” —Slate
“July’s stories are sexy and fast… Her characters are a new lost generation.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
“July’s quicksilver fiction is always surprising, and it takes pains to remind us that, somehow, we all belong somewhere.” —The Miami Herald
“July’s tales roll out epiphanies so exquisite and bizarre, they’ll change the way you view life.” —Jane
“There is a marked new maturity in these stories—a determination not just to chronicle her characters’ obsessions and idiosyncrasies, but also to understand the purpose they serve.”—New York Magazine
“July has an unmistakable voice: earnest, funny, emotionally charged.” —Details
“Rich and lyrical…playful and devastating…wonderfully accessible yet undeniably poetic.” —Zink
“Devastatingly personal…curiously uplifting.”—The Salt Lake Tribune
“At once reflective, sexual, funny, and sad. It’s a non sequitur, but not nonsensical…Her writing exudes a (false) simplicity as contagious and dangerous a model in the hands of less capable writers as the works of Raymond Carver…These stories are marked by an imagination that conjures the incredible, renders it mundane (often through sex) and captures an emptiness of modern spirit.” —The Oregonian
“Touching on both the mundane and the provocative…[these stories] are written with July’s frank perspective and an emotional eye for detail.” —The Sacramento Bee
"These stories are incredibly charming, beautifully written, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and even, a dozen or so times, profound. Miranda July is a very real writer, and has one of the most original voices to appear in fiction in many years. Fans of Lorrie Moore should rub this book all over themselves – she's got that perfect balance of humor and pathos. There has been no more enjoyable and promising a debut collection in many a moon." —Dave Eggers
"These delightful stories do that essential-but-rare story thing: they surprise. They skip past the quotidian, the merely real, to the essential, and do so with a spirit of tenderness and wonder that is wholly unique. They are (let me coin a phrase) July-esque, which is to say: infused with wonder at the things of the world." —George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo
"Miranda July's is a beautiful, odd, original voice – seductive, sometimes erotic, and a little creepy, too." —David Byrne
"A woman gives swimming lessons in her kitchen – of course! Miranda July can make anything seem normal in these truly original stories. She has first-rate comic timing and a generous view of the human condition. Maybe best of all, there's joy here, too, often where you would not expect to find it." —Amy Hempel, author of The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
This Person
Someone is getting excited. Somebody somewhere is shaking with excitement because something tremendous is about to happen to this person. This person has dressed for the occasion. This person has hoped and dreamed and now it is really happening and this person can hardly believe it. But believing is not an issue here, the time for faith and fantasy is over, it is really really happening. It involves stepping forward and bowing. Possibly there is some kneeling, such as when one is knighted. One is almost never knighted. But this person may kneel and receive a tap on each shoulder with a sword. Or, more likely, this person will be in a car or a store or under a vinyl canopy when it happens. Or online or on the phone. It could be an e-mail re: your knighthood. Or a long, laughing, rambling phone message in which every person this person has ever known is talking on a speakerphone and they are all saying,You have passed the test, it was all just a test, we were only kidding, real life is so much better than that. This person is laughing out loud with relief and playing the message back to get the address of the place where every person this person has ever known is waiting to hug this person and bring her into the fold of life. It is really exciting, and it's not just a dream, it's real.
They are all waiting by a picnic table in a park this person has driven past many times before. There they are, it's everyone. There are balloons taped to the benches, and the girl this person used to stand next to at the bus stop is waving a streamer. Everyone is smiling. For a moment this person is almost creeped out by the scene, but it would be so like this person to become depressed on the happiest day ever, and so this person bucks up and joins the crowd.
Teachers of subjects that this person wasn't even good at are kissing this person and renouncing the very subjects they taught. Math teachers are saying that math was just a funny way of saying "I love you." But now they are simply saying it, I love you, and the chemistry and PE teachers are also saying it and this person can tell they really mean it. It's totally amazing. Certain jerks and idiots and assholes appear from time to time, and it is as if they have had plastic surgery, their faces are disfigured with love. The handsome assholes are plain and kind, and the ugly jerks are sweet, and they are folding this person's sweater and putting it somewhere where it won't get dirty. Best of all, every person this person has ever loved is there. Even the ones who got away. They hold this person's hand and tell this person how hard it was to pretend to get mad and drive off and never come back. This person almost can't believe it, it seemed so real, this person's heart was broken and has healed and now this person hardly knows what to think. This person is almost mad. But everyone soothes this person. Everyone explains that it was absolutely necessary to know how strong this person was. Oh, look, there's the doctor who prescribed the medicine that made this person temporarily blind. And the man who paid this person two thousand dollars to have sex with him three times when this person was very broke. Both of these men are in attendance, they seem to know each other. They both have little medals that they are pinning on this person; they are badges of great honor and strength. The badges sparkle in the sunlight, and everyone cheers.
This person suddenly feels the need to check her post office box. It is an old habit, and even if everything is going to be terrific from now on, this person still wants mail. This person says she will be right back and everyone this person has ever known says, Fine, take your time. This person gets in her car and drives to the post office and opens the box and there is nothing. Even though it is a Tuesday, which is famously a good day for mail. This person is so disappointed, this person gets back in the car and, having completely forgotten about the picnic, drives home and checks the voice mail and there are no new messages, just the old one about "passing the test" and "life being better." There are no e-mails, either, probably because everyone is at the picnic. This person can't seem to go back to the picnic. This person realizes that staying home means blowing off everyone this person has ever known. But the desire to stay in is very strong. This person wants to run a bath and then read in bed.
In the bathtub this person pushes the bubbles around and listens to the sound of millions of them popping at once. It almost makes one smooth sound instead of many tiny sounds. This person's breasts barely jut out of the water. This person pushes the bubbles onto the breasts and makes weird shapes with the foam. By now everyone must have realized that this person is not coming back to the picnic. Everyone was wrong; this person is not who they thought this person was. This person plunges underwater and moves her hair around like a sea anemone. This person can stay underwater for an impressively long time but only in a bathtub. This person wonders if there will ever be an Olympic contest for holding your breath under bathwater. If there were such a contest, this person would surely win it. An Olympic medal might redeem this person in the eyes of everyone this person has ever known. But no such contest exists, so there will be no redeeming. This person mourns the fact that she has ruined her one chance to be loved by everyone; as this person climbs into bed, the weight of this tragedy seems to bear down upon this person's chest. And it is a comforting weight, almost human in heft. This person sighs. This person's eyes begin to close, this person sleeps.
Copyright © 2007 by Miranda July
Product details
- Publisher : Scribner; Reprint edition (May 6, 2008)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 205 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0743299418
- ISBN-13 : 978-0743299411
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.5 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #45,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,005 in Short Stories (Books)
- #1,937 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #3,717 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book enjoyable and engaging. They describe the humor as witty and charming. The storytelling is described as entertaining, exciting, and thought-provoking. Readers appreciate the author's creativity and descriptive style. They find the emotional content poignant, heart-squirming, and thought-provoking, with characters that are funny, self-deprecating, sad, and thought-provoking in their own way. The voice of the author is described as unique and sexy.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it interesting, entertaining, and their favorite book of 2008. The author is described as lovely and the writing style is well-written.
"You know a novel is worthwhile if you find it in the tiny English foreign language section in Seoul, South Korea...." Read more
"...I enjoyed every one of these 16 charming and hilarious pieces, laughing on every page and smiling on every paragraph...." Read more
"...Given that, I'll say that it is my favorite book of 2008. I love the author's quirky characters and her off-beat take on relationships ...." Read more
"...They were still enjoyable to read, but not memorable. All in all, I love Miranda...." Read more
Customers find the humor witty, charming, and quirky. They describe the book as interesting and funny with believable dialogue. The characters are described as quirky and absurd, with an eye for the tragic and absurd. Overall, readers enjoy the contemporary writing style and short poetic stories.
"...Her style really takes you in to her mind and the words play together like little kids on recess. She has some good stories here...." Read more
"...I enjoyed every one of these 16 charming and hilarious pieces, laughing on every page and smiling on every paragraph...." Read more
"...Try the story "The Swim Team" for a taste of this masterful writer." Read more
"...Kinda uneven. A bit twee at times and, at other times, funny, heartfelt and well-written. Seriously, though?..." Read more
Customers enjoy the storytelling quality of the book. They find the stories entertaining, exciting, and thought-provoking. The book is described as witty and humorous, showing life and the human condition.
"...I picked up the book with no expectations. This is a great collection of short stories perfect for riding on public transport...." Read more
"I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I have been a fan of July's since the debut of her film "Me You and Everyone We Know."..." Read more
"...The stories themselves are too amazing to give this book anything less than a five...." Read more
"...The stories were unique, and July didn't seem afraid to write whatever the hell she felt like writing, whether that meant including a sort of super..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's charm and creativity. They appreciate the author's descriptive style and find it interesting, funny, and thought-provoking.
"...message but rather aim to create a shared moment, an honest snapshot of the here and now...." Read more
"...a sense of humor in her writing that is both humanistic but also very quirky and eccentric...." Read more
"...July has a unique style that may not work for everyone, but it will make a lifelong fan out of anyone it clicks with. It clicked with me." Read more
"I feel very conflicted about this book--there are points of pure genius (for example, the swimming story), and I realize that much of this book is..." Read more
Customers find the stories poignant, thought-provoking, and engaging. They describe the characters as funny, sad, and self-deprecating. The book leaves readers feeling elated and excited about life.
"...She has some good stories here. It is a nice refreshing escape. Check it out!" Read more
"...I love the author's quirky characters and her off-beat take on relationships ...." Read more
"...Kinda uneven. A bit twee at times and, at other times, funny, heartfelt and well-written. Seriously, though?..." Read more
"...Her characters are funny, poignant, self-deprecating, sad, and often sharply discerning -- like the author herself, I suspect...." Read more
Customers enjoy the unique and sexy voice of the author. They find the narrators vulnerable and honest, even though their obsessions are childish.
"...Her distinctive voice is as loud and clear as it could be here...." Read more
"...She definitely has a unique voice and I look forward to her next work...." Read more
"...The voice matches the tone of the WAC show, but the stories are fraught with peculiar tensions...." Read more
"Miranda July's voice is wholly unique, in both her film work and this collection of short stories...." Read more
Customers enjoy the character development. They find the characters quirky and interesting, with believable dialogue. The book is described as a fun journey to discover the characters.
"...It's a fun journey discovering her characters...." Read more
"...I love the author's quirky characters and her off-beat take on relationships ...." Read more
"...Her characters are funny, poignant, self-deprecating, sad, and often sharply discerning -- like the author herself, I suspect...." Read more
"Very odd characters in strange situations, all of their own design...." Read more
Customers appreciate the author's eye for beauty and humanity. They find her voice elegant and insightful, with sensational imagery and unexpected themes. Readers also enjoy the lens through which she looks at life and the world.
"...The authors imagery is sensational and unexpected. Her stories have new themes. Put this down as a must-read!" Read more
"...I love the lens through which she looks at life at the world." Read more
"Miranda July has a perfect eye for the beautiful and the humanity we all share; that each of us own...." Read more
"July's elegant, simple insightful voice relays the innermost workings of the human heart and mind, grounded in everyday events and probe to flights..." Read more
Reviews with images

Deceptive pictures
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2011You know a novel is worthwhile if you find it in the tiny English foreign language section in Seoul, South Korea. I picked up the book with no expectations. This is a great collection of short stories perfect for riding on public transport. Miranda has a talent for sharing the idiosyncrasies of a person's personality- something that would usually take years to unveil. It's a fun journey discovering her characters. Her stories do not have a lofty take-away message but rather aim to create a shared moment, an honest snapshot of the here and now.
I would highly recommend this those who love to collect stories. The kind of stories you're forced to hear from a smelly old person on a crowded bus or the disheveled lady walking all of her 15 dogs.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2008I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I have been a fan of July's since the debut of her film "Me You and Everyone We Know." She has a sense of humor in her writing that is both humanistic but also very quirky and eccentric. Her style really takes you in to her mind and the words play together like little kids on recess. She has some good stories here. It is a nice refreshing escape. Check it out!
- Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2009This might not be your best introduction to Miranda July. I'd suggest watching her movie Me and You and Everyone We Know first. If its brand of shocking yet sweet-hearted humor isn't your cup of tea, don't pick up this book. If, on the other hand, you love the film, think of this book as a must-read sequel.
Her distinctive voice is as loud and clear as it could be here. I enjoyed every one of these 16 charming and hilarious pieces, laughing on every page and smiling on every paragraph.
A typical excerpt: "If you are sad, ask yourself why you are sad. Then pick up the phone and call someone and tell him or her the answer to the question. If you don't know, call the operator and tell him or her. Most people don't know that the operator has to listen, it is the law."
- Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024I already had the amazing yellow hardcover artwork, but they put this pink cover image on like it was the artwork for this hardcover edition. I don't mind a second pristine condition yellow hardcover, but I don't like being tricked into it. The stories themselves are too amazing to give this book anything less than a five. July has a unique style that may not work for everyone, but it will make a lifelong fan out of anyone it clicks with. It clicked with me.
I already had the amazing yellow hardcover artwork, but they put this pink cover image on like it was the artwork for this hardcover edition. I don't mind a second pristine condition yellow hardcover, but I don't like being tricked into it. The stories themselves are too amazing to give this book anything less than a five. July has a unique style that may not work for everyone, but it will make a lifelong fan out of anyone it clicks with. It clicked with me.
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2014I'd been meaning to read this book for a long time. I've owned it for years and even started it twice, both times ultimately setting it aside in favor of something that seemed more interesting before I'd gotten so much as halfway through. I really enjoyed Miranda July's movie Me and You and Everyone We Know and wanted to give her book a fair shot by actually finishing it, so I buckled down and didn't stop until I'd turned the last page.
My actual rating for No One Belongs Here More Than You is 3.5 stars, but that's not an option here so I've rounded it to 3 because for me it leans more in that direction than 4. I had a difficult time feeling transported by and getting lost in these stories. Probably my biggest issue was that I wanted them to come to more of a conclusion somehow, to have more of a point, or at least more of a payoff. The fact that every story seemed to just sort of fade out without much of a purpose seemed to give the book as a whole the feeling that IT lacked much of a purpose. There were some great moments throughout the book, I definitely highlighted multiple passages where July's use of language was particularly interesting/pretty/truthful. I enjoyed Birthmark the most, and also genuinely liked The Swim Team and The Sister. Something That Needs Nothing wasn't bad either. I half really enjoyed and half really didn't Making Love in 2003. The stories were unique, and July didn't seem afraid to write whatever the hell she felt like writing, whether that meant including a sort of super natural element or a controversial/taboo topic, and I appreciated the genre-defying nature of them. At the same time, there were also stories (like The Moves) that felt like they were mostly shocking for the sake of being shocking and ultimately didn't really go anywhere or say very much. I found myself feeling very `...okay, and?'
It wasn't awful. Ultimately, I really just wanted this book to DO more.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2008I bought the book a few months ago, but just got around to reading it. Given that, I'll say that it is my favorite book of 2008.
I love the author's quirky characters and her off-beat take on relationships . The ties are evident if you watch her movie You, Me and Everyone We Know. She definitely has a unique voice and I look forward to her next work.
If it is unclear, I will point out that this is a collection of Miranda July's short stories. While written/published at different times, they work wonderfully together to form a cohesive read. If I could give it another star, I would.
Top reviews from other countries
-
LarizaReviewed in Mexico on July 27, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Entretenido y sin censuras
La verdad es algo diferente a lo que he leído y por esa razón se me hizo muy entretenido, son distintas historias, todas con un trama un poco random pero chistoso, me he llegado a reir en voz alta leyendolo. Te plasma perfecto el escenario y la manera en la que la autora desenvuelve la trama 10/10. Puede para algunos caer en lo vulgar, para mi fue genial.
-
IrinaReviewed in Spain on January 31, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Me encanta !
Todavía lo estoy leyendo y creo que lo estoy haciendo a cámara lenta para que tarde mucho en terminarse. Es fresco, imaginativo e ingenioso y lleno de textos y frases para enmarcar. Tenía muchas ganas de volver a leer en inglés y me he animado con este libro, yo no soy nativa, pero si tienes un nivel medio-alto se sigue bastante bien.
El libro ha llegado más rápido de lo esperado y en perfecto estado.
- STReviewed in India on July 29, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Condition of the book
The book was in a perfect condition.
- Mireille JDReviewed in France on September 13, 2019
1.0 out of 5 stars Still wondering about this.
I didn't enjoy it..
-
Amazon CustomerReviewed in Italy on November 29, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Miranda
I've buyed this book in italian and I appreciated so much, that I wanted the english version too.
I love the graphic, the writing and typical Miranda-mood of this book.