In the 16 stories collected in No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July emerges with an unforgettable voice that establishes her as a true original in a literary scene awash with imitators. July, an American filmmaker (Me and You and Everyone We Know )and performing artist, writes stories that are delicate and strange, filled with startling imagery and sharply observed insights into the lives of outsiders. These stories, collected after appearing in publications such as Zoetrope, Tin House, The Paris Review and The New Yorker, explore themes of alienation and intimacy in a world that fluctuates between the familiar and the fantastic.
    Impossible loves are July’s specialty, from the old man who aches for a co-worker’s imaginary teenaged sibling in “The Sister” to the young writer who pines for the glowing darkness that visited her as a teen in “Making Love in 2003.” Perhaps the strongest story in the collection is the enthralling “Something That Needs Nothing,” a story of love, longing and loss between two childhood friends that conveys the importance and impossibility of human connection against the backdrop of Portland’s seedy underbelly.
    It is to July’s credit that these stories of heartache and disaffection are rarely depressing and are, in fact, frequently hilarious. She writes with a lightness of touch that makes the moments of profundity in the tales seem more thrilling, and manages to avoid relying too heavily upon gimmicks and quirks. Even in a tale such as “The Swim Team,” wherein the narrator gives swimming lessons in her apartment to three octogenarians, July manages to ground the story with a sweetness of spirit that somehow makes the ludicrous scene seem improbably plausible.
    For all of the book’s charms, however, it remains the work of a first-time writer, and occasionally these stories suffer from a lack of craft. Stories tend to switch tone midstream, are interrupted by jarring asides and too frequently end abruptly and without justification. Even when they are imperfect, the stories deliver moments of wonder and genuine surprise that make up for their technical shortcomings.
    These stories will remind readers that movement is about more than just getting from point A to point B — it’s nuance and emotion, and this book has both in spades. Fans of modern short fiction should catch the emergence of a bright new talent.