Trouble swallowing. And a lump in her throat that simply won’t disappear. Philip, her colleague and, from time immemorial, her “imaginary lover”, has recommended a chromotherapist to her for it. And she’ll go along for his sake. Even when it ultimately turns out that Philip – who is over 60 years old – loves someone else. And – that this other person is only 16. One day, Clee, who has just turned 20 and is her boss’ daughter, moves in with Cheryl. Clee mainly spends her time hanging out: she likes TV, crisps and Diet Coke. Initially she’s meant to only stay for a few days. But then she spreads out into Cheryl’s life with relish and brutality.
Together with the actresses Maja Beckmann and Henni Jörissen, the singer Brandy Butler and the young video artist Rebecca Meining, Christopher Rüping directs Miranda July’s debut novel, a mouthpiece for modern big city women, their sensitivities and (sexual) neuroses. “Every line is a surprise: the way Miranda July writes about men and women is highly modern and simply takes your breath away,” wrote Der Spiegel about The First Bad Man, which was voted one of the top 10 failed romances in fiction by The Guardian alongside Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.
