February 14 - "I Kiss a Door"

“I Kiss a Door”
by Miranda July
No One Belongs Here More Than You (2007)

* * (Okay) Realistic

Hindsight explains Eleanor’s relationship with her handsome father.

It’s a weird thing, to be finding so many of these stories by July not quite as good as the first few of hers I read when I first purchased this book. I don’t know if it’s just a difference in me – my tastes – that has developed over the past two years, or if the collection was front-loaded. I’m actually a bit curious to go back to those first stories and reread them to see if I can still recognize the magic I once saw.

This story is one of the not-so-rare beasts in which we do not have a traditional narrative. This is more a slice of thought, a remembrance. The words flow and the quotationless dialogue is fun, but I’m missing the bigger picture. The narrator does come across well – is written realistically – but defined and interesting characters alone does not a story make.