The First Bad Man by Miranda July
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
"In Miranda July's debut novel, we meet Cheryl Glickman, a woman whose diagnosed OCD has led her life to be a life of intricate systems. Systems for doing the dishes, for cleaning her house, for getting ready in the morning. These systems are broken when Cheryl's boss's daughter, Clee, stays wither her and everything starts to fall apart. This novel is absurd, almost to the point where the reader feels disgusted to see what it means when we start to unravel. An incredibly bizarre work of art." - Recommended by Jess
In The First Bad Man, Miranda July tells the story of Cheryl, a vulnerable, uptight woman in her early forties who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat, unable to cry. Cheryl is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six; she also believes she has a profound connection with Phillip, a philandering board member at Open Palm, the women's self-defense studio where she has worked for twenty years.
When Cheryl's bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl's eccentrically ordered world explodes. And yet it is Clee--the selfish, cruel blond bombshell--who teaches Cheryl what it means to love and be loved and, inadvertently, provides the solace of a lifetime.