Having a similar reaction to this as I had to The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Need to sit with it.
― flappy bird, Monday, 16 July 2018 17:02 (five years ago) link
Ottessa Moshfegh really, really loves herself, doesn't she?
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Thursday, 19 July 2018 04:44 (five years ago) link
haven’t read the nyorker profile yet but a friend recounted to me the story of how she met her partner (came over to interview her, and stayed inside her house for 17 days) i thought that was very romantic
― flopson, Thursday, 19 July 2018 05:38 (five years ago) link
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison)
don't you?
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 July 2018 05:52 (five years ago) link
Should be part of yr Buddha nature.
― Isora Clubland (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 19 July 2018 10:15 (five years ago) link
I loathe myself, and I'm not that keen on her, either.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Thursday, 19 July 2018 10:21 (five years ago) link
i've only read her short story collection which is at times brilliant and at times truly horrendous, which is how i feel about her generally and her persona in interviews. the husband seems like such a massive bellend.
i've started to read the interviews for a laugh, generally. this one is fairly good: https://longreads.com/2018/07/05/a-person-alone-leaning-out-with-ottessa-moshfegh/
The ’90s were really, really different from the decades that preceded. At least, I felt. A lot of cultural shifts happened. You could get away with being weirder. Now things are so policed. You can’t even really express an opinion without getting haters on social media. But in the ’90s we had Nirvana
not sure i could bother with a novel.
― FernandoHierro, Thursday, 19 July 2018 10:22 (five years ago) link
lol
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 July 2018 10:35 (five years ago) link
seems like a smart decision
― flopson, Thursday, 19 July 2018 11:56 (five years ago) link
The NYer profile completely turned me off of ever reading her. My loss, perhaps.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Thursday, 19 July 2018 12:27 (five years ago) link
Maybe she meant it this way: "But in the '90s we had Nirvana *smirk* "
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 July 2018 12:39 (five years ago) link
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Thursday, July 19, 2018 8:27 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yep
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 July 2018 17:26 (five years ago) link
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.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 19 July 2018 17:41 (five years ago) link
She's far and away the best young fiction writer in America. Struggling to think of anyone else that's even close.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 July 2018 17:45 (five years ago) link
https://www.thecut.com/2018/07/profile-ottessa-moshfegh.html
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 July 2018 17:47 (five years ago) link
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?
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 19 July 2018 18:02 (five years ago) link
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.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 July 2018 18:13 (five years ago) link
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
― flopson, Thursday, 19 July 2018 19:32 (five years ago) link
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.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 19 July 2018 20:25 (five years ago) link
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.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 July 2018 22:03 (five years ago) link
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.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 19 July 2018 22:30 (five years ago) link
Okay... what is the question again
― flappy bird, Friday, 20 July 2018 01:36 (five years ago) link
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?
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 20 July 2018 03:34 (five years ago) link
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
― flopson, Friday, 20 July 2018 03:42 (five years ago) link
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
― flopson, Friday, 20 July 2018 04:03 (five years ago) link
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)
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 20 July 2018 04:15 (five years ago) link
this thread makes me remember that i thought mcglue sounded like something i'd enjoy, despite my reservations. may well give it a try.
― FernandoHierro, Friday, 20 July 2018 13:03 (five years ago) link
anybody else finish the book yet? thoughts?
― flappy bird, Monday, 23 July 2018 17:35 (five years ago) link
She has a talent for depicting squalor.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 23 July 2018 18:02 (five years ago) link
I started it and I'm not sure how I feel yet, but it does make for excellent bedtime reading.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 23 July 2018 18:10 (five years ago) link
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, Tuesday, 24 July 2018 01:54 (five years ago) link
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 itnothing compares to the short stories for me, havent read mcgluedont ever read interviews of anyone ever obv why u torturing urselves
― alomar lines, Tuesday, 24 July 2018 05:44 (five years ago) link
― 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.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 24 July 2018 06:15 (five years ago) link
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
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 18:06 (five years ago) link
the novel she's working on now 1) stars a Chinese cross dresser 2) the first chapter is narrated by a ghost
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 18:49 (five years ago) link
reading this while depressed and in a fog of over-sleeping + barely leaving my apartment has been quite the trip
― flopson, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:35 (five years ago) link
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.
― Yelploaf, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:43 (five years ago) link
the psychiatrist is just the best though
― flappy bird, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:48 (five years ago) link
Yeah, Dr. Tuttle the best drawn character imo.
― Yelploaf, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:51 (five years ago) link
despite the descriptions of her having red hair I always picture her as Fran Lebowitz
― flappy bird, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:53 (five years ago) link
Reading her short stories. She’s good with conception, setup, and details, but shit on endings
― calstars, Sunday, 20 January 2019 19:17 (five years ago) link
Who is good at endings, though?
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 16:08 (five years ago) link
'my year' is the worst thing i have read since 'ready player one'
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:06 (five years ago) link
the sort of sub-lanchesterian satire-adjacent archness of it
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:53 (five years ago) link
the (tongue-in-cheek? or genuinely fucking stupid?) september 11th 2001 millenarianism
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:54 (five years ago) link
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
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:57 (five years ago) link
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
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 15:42 (five years ago) link
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, 24 January 2019 15:48 (five years ago) link
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, 24 January 2019 15:51 (five years ago) link
have you read anything else by her
― flappy bird, Thursday, 24 January 2019 16:31 (five years ago) link