It was easy to tell from performance artist Miranda July's first feature-length film, Me and You and Everyone We Know that July is a rare bird -- a storyteller who follows little but her own quirkiness as a guide yet impresses more than she annoys.

Her debut collection of fiction, No One Belongs Here More Than You , continues that tightwire act. You'd have every right to roll your eyes at a few of July's more contrived conceits, but you'll feel bewitched often enough to forgive. Playfulness can be precious in an adult, but a real sense of life's absurdity and sadness permeates her work. Though I haven't heard it, I'm betting the audio recording of the book, which July read herself, is a strong example of the form.

What the book, printed or spoken, won't give you is a sense of the breadth of July's talent as a designer, filmmaker, and jokester. For a fuller introduction, visit her official web site, one of the more creative venues of self-promotion you'll find.