Totally beefed the ending, but I liked most of the middle bits! ( )

I hated this book. At first I thought the concept was interesting and enjoyed some of the witticisms Moshfegh builds in the beginning. But as I kept reading, I realized how shallow this book actually is. The commentary on New York and its archetypes felt unoriginal – seriously, am I supposed to be impressed by the "modern art is stupid and weird" take? – and the main character/narrator was so insufferable that it was impossible to take any of her observations seriously.

I'm not really sure how I feel in general about the "unlikable women" trend in contemporary fiction, but other books in this genre manage to maintain perspective and realism. This book was has a totally unrealistic premise, which is fine, but then so many people interpret the unlike-ability of the lead character as some sort of social commentary – which I think gives this book too much credit, and also doesn't seem to jive with how separated from reality the premise feels. For example, if this book was supposed to provide commentary on therapy/drugs or something in that vein, any analysis Moshfegh injects is negated by the fact that Dr. Tuttle, the main character's therapist is so wholly unrealistic, and feels so far removed from reality that it's not obvious she represents anything or is supposed to be satirizing/hyperbolizing something in real life.

Further, Moshfegh has said in interviews that she doesn't think art needs to have lessons and I don't disagree. But if this book has no philosophical/moral implications, and the characters aren't relatable, and the observations are trite, and I don't feel like I learned anything, then why read it? I didn't even find it entertaining in the way that a trashy reality tv show is entertaining.

Reva was the only good character and it hurt so much to see her mistreated time and time again by the narrator and author – and once I was done with the book, I realized how pointless it was.

I also thought the 9/11 ending was unnecessary and cheap. What were we supposed to take away? That some good came out of 9/11 because it snapped an insufferable, privileged girl out of her self-imposed depressive modern art experiment?

And maybe I'm reading too much into it – but if we're supposed to herald Moshfegh as a literary genius, then I think it's fair game to read into everything – but I thought the decision to make the only Asian character be a Chinese man who abuses dogs, a little bit questionable. The protagonist also has this weird Whoopie Goldberg obsession which felt gratuitous, and was maybe only there to make her seem quirky? Not sure. ( )

I am undecided about this one. Reviews are either 5-star ("brilliant") of 1-star ("pointless"). Honestly, I vacillated between those two points of view many times while reading. ( )

This is currently at the top of one of my favorite lists of books, the slacker girls list, or flailing females list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/153374.She_s_Not_Feeling_Good_at_All_Catastr... So of course I felt I HAD to read the current top book, even if a book club was the reason that finally shoved me into reading it. I kind of expected to like it more? Even if I feel like Ottessa Moshfegh is one of those writers that wants to shove you AWAY from a book. Since 2018, I think there have been a bunch more books like this, that take it even further, that I love even more. (See: the above list.) So maybe this book is kind of a pillar for those types of books, but I also expected Moshfegh to be more Out There. A lot of the writing features some vapid stuff, which I know is entirely the point for this main character, but not necessarily what I feel like reading. If this is satire, I don't really get it. I do like that the plot is set in late 90s, early 2000s, rather than being current. But then I also disliked the reason for it being set in that time. Ah well, I have the rest of that amazing list. Weird girls for the win! ( )

this book pissed me off so bad!!!! i was genuinely excited because it seemed like it was right up my alley, but now i guess i can safely say this is WAY overhyped, as both a new york novel and a sad girl novel.

may be spoilers ahead.

1) god i HATED how she treated reva. HATED it. i hated how consistently cruel she was, and it really went too far, for me. reva was a far more compelling character to me and i understood why the protagonist would feel the way she did, but like, we get it. you've made your point. enough. i was interested in their friendship but i often felt violently unwell when she was talking about reva. i can read any sort of shock horror with a straight face but i guess i draw the line at people harbouring genuinely repugnant private thoughts about their friends. (come to think of it, my reaction reminds me of how i felt about cersei's chapters in asoiaf/affc, so i guess i just have a particular ick around reading that sort of thing.)

2) i think the language of this book is a little too contemporary to make it a convincing y2k novel. some of how moshfegh writes about technology just felt a little blasé, like she was talking about stuff that had been around forever, except in 2000 it was actually brand new/not all that common. this really detracted from my comprehension of this as being something rooted in its era. maybe it's part of the conceit, but it did not work for me.

3) i did think there were some interesting ideas at play in this book. (that said, i don't think i would've touched it if i knew how much of it was about cancer, my least favourite Theme to explore in fiction.) but, here's the kicker: you want me to sympathise with a pretty, skinny, rich WASP? i know this is HEAVILY signposted, but like, the way she's like "i'm not stupid, i don't want to give up my privilege" was an unsatisfying way of dealing with her, honestly, fetishisation of poverty. like the ending felt raaaaather common_people.mp3, you know? i LOVE an unlikable rich protagonist!! i love reading about horrible rich people like you would not believe. i love reading satires on rich people in the art world. but NONE of that worked for me here; i felt that with the protagonist, moshfegh was trying too hard to thread the needle between "she's too privileged" and "she is genuinely lost and miserable." an interesting balance to strike, but not the way it was done here. and everything about the art world was SO extreme, so cartoonish, that it was hard to buy into the satire. like girl your lifestyle is another side of the same coin...

anyway at least it was a quick read ( )