My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel

Ottessa Moshfegh is such a great author. I love how she can be morbid, funny, and unpredictable all at once. This book is especially good; the characters and circumstances are so interesting and unlikable, but that does not make the book unlikable. This book has put me out of a two year long reading slump, and I have purchased many of Moshfegh's other books which I like just as much.Bought it used, but it is in good condition despite a couple marks.

The premise of Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION is that a young woman, out of college, orphaned, feeling very alone and lost in the world, with an inheritance to sustain herself, wants to escape. She has a plan to stockpile enough pills through a psychiatrist she found in the Yellow Pages, whose manner is beyond outrageous and writes prescriptions faster than you can say Jack Robinson, so that she can sleep for a year.Narrated by the protagonist, her biting humor, awareness of her shortcomings, while claiming not to rely on her looks, even though in her sleep-deprived, drug addled stupor, she checks her reflection regularly on her any time of day jaunts to her neighborhood bodega for her ritual coffee. Following this, begins her intake of whatever mind-altering drug her doctor has chosen to load her up with.An endless source of amusement is offered in this year 2000 setting with our character’s Whoopie Goldberg, Harrison Ford obsession, both of whose movies she watches obsessively on her VCR, To say that she is anti-social would be putting it mildly but she begrudgingly allows her non-friend Rita who comes by every other day or so to check in on her, into the apartment, only to listen to her talk via inspirational quotes and try as she might to get her to go out clubbing, to no avail. Then there is Trevor. The non-boyfriend who rears his ugly head and genitals every so often to degrade and use her for his own sexual purposes, leaving nothing but emptiness behind.Reading MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION is anything but restful. Darkness seems to fall all day, hope comes in the form of a pill, socializing happens with a man behind a cash register, and where is the love. I like a book that has a way with all my emotions. This one certainly did.

Moshfegh’s prose is brilliant contemporary, an easy to follow “stream of consciousness” dialogue from a dissociative and unreliable narrator. I related with her at parts, loathed her at others, and at times found myself so utterly baffled by her choices yet, somehow, they made sense for her.A story about upper class white woman addiction, drug use, abandonment, and abuse, and the never-ending cycle which brings her back to face it over and over.Trevor was completely unsympathetic, and I cared so little for his scenes. Seeing his name made me go red.— SPOILERS BELOW —Wish that mf died instead of Reva. I liked Ping Xi more than that old man freak.Also, alas, in the contemporary world, 9/11 is seen as more of a punchline than a culmination of a series of horrendous events, overcoming said events, only for your one solace to be stripped without warning.Read if you are not seeking any role models.

I haven't read this author before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this story, although it paints the main character as an over-privileged sort of tomboy-princess, so if that aspect will totally get in your way, keep that in mind. But, I think that's a point of the author's as well, and it's written in a rounded way with a totally new take on a usual "she's depressed" type of theme. It's supposed to be coming out as a movie soon, on a cable channel, I believe (I can't remember which and just moved so the book is still packed in a box which I can't check on this second), and I'm excited to see how the movie compares with the book, although most movies can't hold water to the original novel. Very original story with a sort of seemingly-simplified ending but that actually leaves you with more abstract thinking to do than you might think, in my opinion. Definitely more of a literature feel than some usual "chick-lit" type of book, although the latter has its place as well. If you like the summary of the book, give it a try. It's a quick read with juicy, but also fascinating themes if you think outside the box.

Powerful in the middle, slightly boring in the beginning until we get to know her motive behind her behaviors, ending is gentle not too abrupt

So, I'm not an avid reader. Nor am I a big 'chick lit' fan. I rarely finish books, but I was looking for something to sink my teeth into after a long spell without anything decent to read (by 'decent' I mean nothing I cared about after 20 pages). Well, this book really hit the spot for me.Its a very easy read. Just crack it open and you'll be swept away. The book is written in first person perspective of the main character. I wouldn't say I liked her, nor did I especially dislike her. But I can empathize with her plight.The core concept that drives the plot is pretty provocative - go to sleep for a year and erase your trauma, wake up refreshed and ready to resume life as you were meant to live it, without baggage, without hangups, just living as yourself. Who wouldn't want that?But the way she goes about it, absolutely brilliant.If you can allow yourself to be led down on a journey without constantly pointing out, nitpicking and tearing apart each seemingly unrealistic proposition, you'll be rewarded with an experience that ultimately feels cathartic.I'll admit, there were times that I felt it droned on and on and ....But just speedread beyond that and keep going. The end comes before you know it, and it comes right when you're ready for it.Worth the read.