Otessa Moshfegh is the author of a new collection of stories, Homesick for Another World. In the first of two shows, Moshfegh reveals that she doesn't feel comfortable in this world. Her characters long for another world, as does Moshfegh. Her earlier novella McGlue is a sea-faring tale of love and murder. It was inspired by a short 1851 newspaper article. Moshfegh wrote it in a fever, without edits, as if it were being channeled. Her novel Eileen was written when Moshfegh was broke. She describes it as a deliberate experiment to see if she could support herself by writing. The resulting novel was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. Its alcoholic heroine is trapped in bleak, punishing circumstances. Her longing for another world is achieved with ferocious retribution.
Read an excerpt from Homesick for Another World.
Photo by Sean Dellorco