The title, the unusual author's name, and the flying saucer on the cover all conspired to make me expect "eerily unsettling... delightful and funny" science-fiction stories. Not at all. Moshfegh's stories are firmly of this world, with characters who are unapologetically depraved or cruel. A drunk who keeps a sleeping bag in the classroom where she tries to teach high-school math; a women whose summer house is in a town she despises except for its meth dealers; an old man scheming to make a move on the young woman who moved in next door.
I find unselfconscious cruelty hilarious, because of how surprising it is when you're used to conventional characters. I liked these stories for the same reason I like reading Schopenhauer: great writing whose bitterness is over-the-top funny.
On the other hand, most of the stories lacked the narrative shape that would make them more than sketches. I'm definitely going to read Moshfegh's Booker-Prize nominated novel Eileen, in hopes that it pairs her dry humor with a complete story.
I find unselfconscious cruelty hilarious, because of how surprising it is when you're used to conventional characters. I liked these stories for the same reason I like reading Schopenhauer: great writing whose bitterness is over-the-top funny.
On the other hand, most of the stories lacked the narrative shape that would make them more than sketches. I'm definitely going to read Moshfegh's Booker-Prize nominated novel Eileen, in hopes that it pairs her dry humor with a complete story.
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