Feb. 15, 1974

Miranda July is a wonderful writer. July, born on February 15, 1974,  is also a painter and filmmaker. But Google Books hasn't put that art online yet, so we are talking about her writing. Her parents are writers, her husband an artist also. Her book of short stories includes "The Boy From Lam Kien," from which we excerpt:

[A young boy by the street] seemed to be waiting for me to move forward. Weren't we all. When it became clear this was not going to happen, he yelled out to me,
     I have a dog.
     I nodded. What's his name?
     The boy looked sad for a moment and I realized he did not actually have a dog. I felt honored to be chosen as the person who believed he had a dog. I was the right  woman for this job; he had chosen well to chose me. Finally he yelled out, Paul!, and I dutifully imagined Paul: running with the boy. loving the boy, the boy feeding Paul.
     Do you have a dog? Paul's owner asked, walking toward me...He...did not judge me.
     Do you have any pets, he asked.
     No.
     Not even a cat?
     No.
     Why not?
     I'm not sure I could care for a pet. I travel a lot.
     But  you could get a very little pet, that wasn't very hungry.
    ...I didn't  want any more weaklings....If I was going to bring something new into my house, it would be a big starving thing. But I could not do this. I didn't tell the boy, because I was just his dog believer...

This excerpt is from No One Belongs Here More Than You. (2007.) If you want to know why the narrator was standing on a sidewalk, get the book. Miranda July is a wonderful writer.