All Fours Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Miranda July: The Essential Works and our BookBrowse Review of All Fours.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The first-person narrator of All Fours is a 45-year-old mother and artist, at something of a turning point in her life. When she embarks on a physical trip cross-country, it suddenly turns into a very different kind of journey. What motivates her to change her mind about her travels and what impact does it have on her physically and emotionally? Was that change in plans (and its repercussions) inevitable? How much of what changes in her life and marriage is a result of that initial decision to get off the highway?
2. The narrator attempts to honor the multiplicity of her roles as a mother, wife, friend, and artist. Why do you think she chooses to upend her life, despite having the family, or life, she wants? What, if anything, is she seeking in her journey? What is desire to the narrator? How does desire come into play with her other values, including autonomy, non-conformity, and joy?
3. This book tackles the subject of a woman's experience with perimenopause at age forty-five. What might the book be suggesting about the trope of a midlife crisis? What is the role of humor and irony here? How does the book depart from the usual depictions of one's experience with aging, particularly when compared to everyday media?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Riverhead Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.