Summary: Miranda July has been a live performer, a short story writer, a film actor and director, a recording artist, and even a mobile app developer. What could possibly be left? Somewhat surprisingly, she's just published her first novel. From her hit indie film Me You And Everyone We Know, to her short story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You, if there's one unifying theme in July's sprawling C.V. it's the search to reconcile alienation and community. July says the joy of writing, in particular, is "to take these things that you lament and are embarrassed by, and own them and become righteous about them and even suggest there's something powerful about them." Her new novel, The First Bad Man, documents the internal life of one "righteously alone person," one Cheryl Glickman, whose life is turned inside-out when she is forced to live with a young woman whose casual relationships subvert and challenge Glickman's own perfectly manicured existence. Cheryl is forced to transform quickly from distant oddball misfit to self-assured and deeply involved, and in the process discovers truths about friendship, motherhood, and love. In a long conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, July talks about her role as perennial outsider, the challenges and rewards of working in multiple media, and elaborates on the heartbreaking message coded in David Bowie's classic song "Kooks."
