Ottessa Moshfegh

Who should we be reading besides Moshfegh? It seems like a problem with all media but we're living in a time where the gonzo-ness of reality is outstripping literature's ability to articulate anything compelling or insightful about it.

She's far and away the best young fiction writer in America. Struggling to think of anyone else that's even close.

https://www.thecut.com/2018/07/profile-ottessa-moshfegh.html

At the time I read moshfegh's story collection, I was also reading a novella about someone skating in abandoned swimming pools while dealing with her brother's drug addiction, and another novella about a corridista who sings himself into a ganglord's castle, and none of them struck me as being better or worse than the other (to the point I don't remember who the authors are). What is it about moshfegh you would say is more deserving of attention?

I relate to her misanthropy, her cynicism, her confidence, and her wounded optimism. On a technical level she's a fantastic writer & in the story collection demonstrated a pretty stunning range of voices & managed to consistently surprise me. And she's hilarious.

imo if a profile of a writer turns you off the writer the blame likely lies more on the writer of the profile of the writer herself. i love her interviews ymmv

If the appeal of a writer is largely persona-driven, then it seems like a good proxy for whether you'd enjoy reading her stuff, though.

It’s not at all persona driven for me. I knew nothing about her before I read Homesick for Another World - the qualities I listed above I found in her writing.

Right, but the qualities you initially point to describe a representation of an author, a voice, a sensibility, which are things I don't particularly like about, say, David Eggers' writing, but I'm enjoying Monk of Mokha right now.

Okay... what is the question again

Which question? It seems like you answered that the distinguishing appeal is the specific personality and attitude that comes through her writing. I couldn't really speak to the technical level of writing as it didn't seem miles and away more accomplished than two randomly selected pieces of fiction I happened to have picked up at the time. Is there something specific you'd say she does on a technical level that other writers don't do as well?

haven’t read the new one yet but the stories, mcglue, and eileen are all v different and i don’t get a consistent persona from reading her stuff. she’s a bit of an ‘edgelord’ i guess but in a way i find cool

the appeal of her writing was v immediate to me but ive had mixed results in turning friends onto her, if u don’t like the stories it’s nbd, like there’s no big secret to it; flappy’s description gets at her appeal pretty well. i would say maybe try mcglue just bc it’s an awesome piece of writing, if you still wanna give it a try

I read the stories and eileen and they did seem of a piece, a kind of similar detachment. what should I look for in mcglue from a writing POV? (I feel like if i notice what a writer is doing, the writer's doing a bad job, so i'm not going to automatically take notice of really good writing)

this thread makes me remember that i thought mcglue sounded like something i'd enjoy, despite my reservations. may well give it a try.

anybody else finish the book yet? thoughts?

She has a talent for depicting squalor.

I started it and I'm not sure how I feel yet, but it does make for excellent bedtime reading.

i finished & liked the book...i think maybe less than i liked eileen? i dont have any issue w the end, fully understood & knew 9/11 was gonna be implicated here

the end as a set of snapshots, step out into a new world, felt poignant to me w/e. old person on a bench how did they get there.
self-observation so much different than eileen but also the same. a person observing themselves 200+ pages but stillcompelling?like alfred says, squalor, lotta pages of it
nothing compares to the short stories for me, havent read mcglue
dont ever read interviews of anyone ever obv why u torturing urselves

i finished & liked the book...i think maybe less than i liked eileen? i dont have any issue w the end, fully understood & knew 9/11 was gonna be implicated here

― johnny crunch, Monday, July 23, 2018 9:54 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

m/l my thoughts, though reiterating that certain characters work in the world trade center pretty much robs the rest of the book of suspense. i suppose the ending could be read as a final indictment of the vacuity and banal selfishness of the narrator.

Great interview with OM on the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast today. Behind a paywall but worth it: https://www.patreon.com/posts/b-e-e-podcast-10-21822014

the novel she's working on now 1) stars a Chinese cross dresser 2) the first chapter is narrated by a ghost

reading this while depressed and in a fog of over-sleeping + barely leaving my apartment has been quite the trip

Omg, I had the same experience. Sent me in to a total tailspin. I gave it to my wife and she got depressed, too. Not recommended (or highly recommended) for delicate readers feeling anxious or hopeless about current events.

the psychiatrist is just the best though

Yeah, Dr. Tuttle the best drawn character imo.

despite the descriptions of her having red hair I always picture her as Fran Lebowitz

Reading her short stories. She’s good with conception, setup, and details, but shit on endings

Who is good at endings, though?

'my year' is the worst thing i have read since 'ready player one'

the sort of sub-lanchesterian satire-adjacent archness of it

the (tongue-in-cheek? or genuinely fucking stupid?) september 11th 2001 millenarianism

this is otm:

It read like an attenuated short story, extended beyond its scope.

though i think alfred is actually referring to her other book there

tin ear approaching lanchesterian proportions also. i just got to the bit where the narrator orders “a case of sexual lubricant” which is good enough for the man himself almost

that tic of novels trying to prove a point about their new yorkiness by playing mad libs with ETHNICITY + SERVICE INDUSTRY

the laotian lady at the korean beauticians messed up when she was threading my eyebrows so i bought a cannoli from the iraqis at the jewish delicatessen and ordered a sicilian pizza from the sephardic jews at the Italian restaurant and hoped they’d send me the cute eritrean delivery driver

have you read anything else by her

hough i think alfred is actually referring to her other book there

― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp),

yeah -- Eileen

no one knows who lanchester is thom

she nailed the ending in Eileen imo, and the stories are impeccably constructed. I didn't like MYORAR at all though.

it made me laugh a few times but a bit of a letdown tho i had high expectations

that tic of novels trying to prove a point about their new yorkiness by playing mad libs with ETHNICITY + SERVICE INDUSTRY

― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:48 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the laotian lady at the korean beauticians messed up when she was threading my eyebrows so i bought a cannoli from the iraqis at the jewish delicatessen and ordered a sicilian pizza from the sephardic jews at the Italian restaurant and hoped they’d send me the cute eritrean delivery driver

― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:51 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao

If you haven’t read the John Lanchester thread you should leave ILB and not come back until you are ready to learn

ay ay captain

it’s a good thread but i categorically object to american writers being called lanchesteresque. also otessa has a great ear imo

Who the fuck is John Lanchester?

If you haven’t read the John Lanchester thread you should leave ILB and not come back until you are ready to learn

Who the fuck is John Lanchester?

And what does he have to do with OM?