Homesick For Another World
By: Ottessa Moshfegh
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Book 64/100 Pages: 294
This is the first Ottessa Moshfegh (such a cool name) I’ve read, despite having a number of her works on my to be read list. Homesick for Another World is a collection of fourteen short stories, covering self-deception across a spectrum of individuals representing the human condition. .
Moshfegh’s writing could be described as literary grotesque. She depicts these reprehensible characters with such merit and upblam. It’s why I love Bukowski, he highlights the low lights of people, the squalor type of existence. Showcasing people in the periphery of society, ignoring societal normalcy for a unique existence that people often don’t get to see. Her characters in these short stories all strive to connect to others or another world which they are excluded.
As I mentioned, I love her writing but I think I would prefer it in novel format as opposed to this collection of stories (obviously a personal preference). Her novel Eileen which won the PEN/Hemingway award and was a short-Lister for the 2016 Man Booker has been on my read list for a while. I look forward to checking out more of her work, and I recall David Sedaris mentioning liking her writing, and who doesn’t love David? Ottessa infuses the outrageous with compassion and I can’t wait to read more of her work.
Callahan Herrig 