Filmmaker, writer and artist Miranda July has just published her first novel.

She’s been well known in conceptual art circles for a long time, in part because of projects in the emerging discipline of social practice.

Her 2005 film "Me, You, and Everyone We Know" introduced a wide audience to the characters she had up her sleeve, lost souls and everyday seekers.

Now with “The First Bad Man," she’s created an outstandingly awkward protagonist who’s in a mad scramble toward love and connection.