Customer Reviews

Learning to Love You More

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book because I am a fan of Miranda July's. I loved her movie and her book of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories. This book has none of July's original artwork. It is a collection of work done by other people based on a list of assignments she wrote. The assignments range from the quirky (create an object from your youth using only construction paper and tape) to the profound (spend time with someone who is dying and then write about it). July's brilliance lies in her ability to bring out creativity using specific assignments and rules. As a teacher, I can really appreciate the value of a good assignment. I also love her on-going theme of "it's not about you". Her assignments often remind artists to stick to the rules instead of being creative. Still, this book is an inspiration to be more creative: to create more.

Good overview of the "learningtoloveyoumore.com" project. I like the initiative based on the idea of making a public project, one that crowdsources the activity and gathers it under a common umbrella. Unfortunately the process seems to be dedicatedly repetitive, and while some of the approaches to domesticity are quite commendable they seem to offer a single point of entry and run from whimsical to predictable, to the point that one hopes that the initiative will go elsewhere or offer a new approach and commentary, but it doesn't.

What the book contains is mostly present at the website, and new proposals, and possible critical approaches may happen there. Unless, one has an intrinsic interest to have the project documented in book form it feels far more relevant to leave it aside and resort to the website, or to other projects that are daring to go beyond the stopping point of Learning to Love you More. It still remains an important initiative and it is useful to have it recorded in one volume although I feel it could be expanded more richly.

Miranda July is great! This book invites us to create more art, in ways that connect us more to each other. Her movie and short story collections are also really beatiful.

I got this book for my Boyfriend of seven years. We had just relocated to a VERY rural part of Texas from a VERY Urban setting in Chicago. I was afraid we would have nothing to do. A friend showed me this book and I knew i had to get it. I love love love this book. It has given my boyfriend and I so much to do when we had nothing but four walls to look at. I would say that this book has helped us transition into our new lives in Texas as well as helped to build a stronger relationship between us. Thanks to the Authors for this new hope!

I stood in Atomic Books in Baltimore and read the whole thing. Seriously. My knees almost buckled. They had four copies on the table. I bought them all, took them home, wrapped them and handed them out as Christmas presents. I didn't get one for myself. (But doesn't that make my gift of the book the best present, as it was the thing I wanted most but instead passed on to someone else?!) I hope someone gives it to me for Christmas this year as I'd love to look at it all over again.

this book made an awesome valentines present ((compared to the typical cards and flower alternative!))....it's a very fun, sentimental and thought-provoking book that makes you wanna slow down and take notice of all the small beautiful and day-to-day thinks in life!

Such a special book. It is full of fun and love and life and I love it a lot. Recommended to me by an amazing person, and I value it and read it only in times of great love and strife in my life. So powerful and truthful and human.

I'm writing this review for all the people out there that are going to miss the freakish brilliance of this book (and Miranda July's website--now taken over by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), because they are trapped somewhere inside the mundane: the place where people generalize, stereotype, feel trapped, and take 5 shots of espresso and untold amounts of doughnuts to awaken their brains for work, each morning. These same folks may mistakenly label this as some sort of "self help" effort. I don't believe this was ever the intention (although for some, it may be the effect). Miranda July's genius is mostly in the things she's just not afraid to say or express, really, really differently. It's less about what we think, and more about celebrating the individual, and all those things that are just never said, or even considered. The book gives simple suggestions that are inspired by Miranda (and Harrell) and then shows us glimpses of the outcome (from the world--who in turn sends in their creative result for all to see...) in a staggering array of creative responses. I mean, stuff for which you might be called "crazy", if you just did it yourself (without someone else suggesting you do it). The authors know this, but they don't care about all of that. Miranda and Harrell wish creative freedom, for the universe. In this way, it's a gift. Thanks, guys. They also just seem to want to have some serious conceptual fun. The website (which you should immediately peruse at learningtoloveyoumore.com) is filled with good vibes and amusement as you discover the awesome juxtaposition of some of the ideas. There are even video clip submissions! My personal favorite: "Re-enact a scene from a movie that made someone else cry." Click on it, then click on "Kara Hearn", who submitted a shining video example of wonderment, with the re-enacting of all the parts from the film E.T., when E.T. and Elliot were dying. I laughed so hard, I almost cried...AGAIN, as I was one of the ones crying at the original film. Other clips are just as touching as the original movies, and the effect is the opposite. This book will take you on similar affective journeys. Isn't this what life is really about? Well, helping others...then discovering all the things we have never really seen or done, before?? Seeing the things we have already seen in different ways?? Looking at the things no one else has taken the time to look at?? Or maybe...just appreciating the beauty of our diverse world. Buy the book and then come up with your own multitude of reasons to love it more. Then post your response somewhere public (like Amazon). <3

This book is hard to categorize, which is exactly what I like about it. I was drawn to it as a source for unusual writing exercises, and it has those, as well as ideas for other creative projects ("take a picture of what's under your bed.") The projects seem more accessible and less expected than the exercises in more academic writing texts, and they can be adapted for groups of different ages and experience levels. It's also just fun to browse, and has become one of my favorite writing books, next to Lynda Barry's "What It Is."

I was inspired to include a review for this book because I noticed some people were questioning why the book does not include any of Miranda's original artwork. This project itself is part of Miranda's art: She is the kind of unique artist that inspires others and pushes to look at things in a new way and sometimes from the perspective of others -- which is the point of this book, to explore different perspectives and lives and compile them into a book of art and unique expressions.
It's amazing. I've been recommending it for a few years and get stuck flipping through every time I pick it up again.