First of all, it’s visually beautiful – entirely typewritten, with lots of mistakes that are X’d out. There’s one page for each day (each day in July, for this is a July diary, hence the title) – including a blank page (with only the date) for the 12th. (One becomes ceaselessly fascinated with that absence.) What’s remarkable about this “experiment” is how Charity’s entire life – the way she intimately sees this universe – is evidenced: her love of the beach, of fireflies, of her friends, of her sister. Her mother is an especially engaging character. The author’s quietly highbrow reading – including a diary by Goethe about traveling in Switzerland – plays a role. “Julyiary” gets better as it proceeds, and the book itself knows that. Published by O’Clock Press.