I have to confess that I’d never heard of Ottessa Moshfegh before.Shame on me, I know.As a wannabe writer, I feel compelled to know other writers’ names.Hang in literary circles.Etc.The good news is, however, that I found Homesick for Another World in an indie bookstore.I’d gone in for something else that they didn’t have, but I don’t like walking out with nothing, especially when it’s a small store.Besides, I trust the taste of most independent store owners.
I can’t remember the last time I read a book of short stories all the way through.As with most writers some work appeals to you more than others.In my mind the first and last stories stick the firmest.The latter, “A Better Place,” is haunting, almost Shirley Jacksonesque.Others make you uncomfortable in your own skin.This is a rare talent.
Finding a writer who, using simple words and expressions, takes you to another place is a rare gift.The short story (the only kind of fiction I’ve actually published) is a versatile and engaging form of literature.Books collecting them are often good for picking up when you have a little time and putting down for a while again.I felt compelled to go through this whole work, being drawn into the weird and somehow familiar worlds of characters who seem to have no purpose, no goals.It’s almost as refreshing as Kafka or Camus.To be a writer who requires only one name to evoke a genre must be glorious.These stories are strange without recourse to the supernatural, and they defy easy genre assignment.(This makes publishers crazy.)
There’s an earnestness and a longing in this collection.A kind of nihilistic spiritualism.A wanting with no particular object in mind.I read a lot of fiction, some of it very good.The kind that leaves you a little stunned and questioning what reality is.This is that kind of book.Had I not gone into that indie shop that Saturday morning I never would have found it.I certainly didn’t know to look for Ottessa Moshfegh.Here again I’m reminded of the value of the bookstore experience.The ability to browse without clicking or scrolling feels like a luxury to me now.I may have to pay more than Amazon’s competitive pricing, but then this is like a finder’s fee for being in the real world.Even if the book makes you question that reality when you’re done.
