Signed First Edition

Ottessa Moshfegh’s debut novel Eileen was one of the literary events of 2015 - garlanded with critical acclaim, it was named a book of the year by The Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, selected as a BEA Buzz pick, and nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. But as many critics noted, Moshfegh is among connoisseurs particularly held in awe for her short stories. Homesick for Another World is the rare case where an author’s short story collection is if anything more anticipated than her novel.

And for good reason. There’s something eerily unsettling about Moshfegh’s stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though in very different ways each to each, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition.

• Tweet