Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh

Eileen is a twenty-four year old misfit who lives with her father, a dysfunctional, alcoholic, former policeman. She works in a home for delinquent boys in 1960s Massachusetts. Abuse and neglect are rampant, and Eileen observes everything from her position as a receptionist. She narrates the story many years after the events in Eileen have passed.

Eileen's life is going nowhere, and she spends her free time drinking with her father or at the local pub, and fantasizing about disappearing and leaving everyone behind. Everything changes when a new staff member shows up at work. Rebecca is beautiful and fascinating, and Eileen instantly develops a girl-crush on her. She's intrigued as she sees Rebecca taking an interest in one particular boy's story, and finds herself getting caught up in a violent crime as Rebecca confronts and accuses the boy's mother of horrific abuse.

Reviews of Eileen have been generally positive. Those reviews include adjectives such as "black," "dark," "funny," "shocking," "bleak," "creepy," "satisfying," and "bizarre." I agree with many of those descriptions, but I have to admit that I didn't particularly enjoy reading it. In addition to the terms mentioned above, I would also describe the book as gross, disgusting, and repulsive. There are no characters, including Eileen, who have any redeeming value whatsoever. Everyone is mean, stingy, uncaring, and nasty. Nevertheless, Ms. Moshfegh's writing is very good. Part of what makes this book funny is the deadpan way that Eileen narrates her life, from her bathroom habits to the drinking and violence that made up her home life growing up. I will be very interested to see what Ms. Moshfegh comes up with next.

Ottessa Moshfegh. Eileen. New York: Penguin Books, 2015. Advance uncorrected proofs. 260 pages. ISBN 9781594206627.