Ottessa Moshfegh

Darkly exquisite as drowning, McGlue inhabits the DTs of a dissolute man in the hold on a rough sea voyage.

McGlue

obsessed with Moshfegh’s ability to create such surreal grotesque worlds

lara anand

Ghofran Mustafa 

azliana aziz

A Novella

Syahla Aurel

After I read Homesick for Another World and Eileen, I had the impression that I would always enjoy Ottessa's writing, but McGlue proved me wrong.

A disgusting and dark novella, but well written and intriguing 

Jessica Van Wart

Abigail Joyann

3 stars
Upsetting and ugly novella following the ins and outs of drunkenness and hangovers of the sailor McGlue. The writing is chaotic and all over the place making you feel as though you too are experiencing thoughts under the influence. This was brilliant in a sense of writing but the overall story wasn't my cup of tea. McGlue expresses homophobia inwardly and outwardly, especially with his verbiage and as a narrator entirely unreliable regarding the events of the story.

maggie

fellas is it gay to be so in love with your best friend that you kill him when he asks you to?

Anthony Sabourin

I read this wrong - fractured over months instead of one good sitting. Felt unsure about it upon completion but the ending is a stunner and when I started reading my next book all of its characters were void of depth and insight by comparison. Read all Moshfegh it's good for the soul.

Noel Antonio Lopez

Shea Newton

more disgusting, despicable, and ugly than i’ve could have wished for :)

Jill Swan

I'm not quite sure why I love Moshfegh's writing. All of her characters are unpleasant and horrible, and they say and think terrible things, and make irresponsible decisions, but I can't stop reading her work. This is much better than Eileen, I think, but I don't feel the same way about it as I did My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Her language is beautiful, she manages to state complex thoughts in really simple ways, which feels good to read. Her books don't feel like they're meant to be enjoyable but I love them.

Kath Lau

Maybe I missed something? My Year of Rest and Relaxation was my first read from Moshfegh and it's on my top ten favorite reads last year so I was really looking forward on reading (and loving) her debut novel, McGlue. This book has 145 pages but it took me days to finish it. I had a hard time getting into the story and it was confusing most of the time. I was lost when I finished it. It's historical fiction, with a little mystery featuring an unreliable narrator. Sounds perfect to me but sadly, I ended up disappointed. I still appreciate the writing style though. I'm just glad that MYoRaR was my first read and I still want to read Eileen.

*ARC from PenguinPress

Gary Homewood

Drunk sailor may have murdered his best friend. Vivid, nihilistic, authentically atmospheric fever dream, verges on being too bleak.

Kate Standing 

Aris 

Emma Schnellberger 

Greta Keller

Sophie Neuman

Roo Lampione

Joanne Chavali

Molly M

Jim Hagan

Christine Frisbie

The debut novella from one of contemporary fiction's most exciting young voices, now in a new edition. Salem, Massachusetts, 1851: McGlue is in the hold, still too drunk to be sure of name or situation or orientation--he may have killed a man. That man may have been his best friend. Intolerable memory accompanies sobriety. A-sail on the high seas of literary tradition, Ottessa Moshfegh gives us a nasty heartless blackguard on a knife-sharp voyage through the fogs of recollection. They said I've done something wrong? . . . And they've just left me down here to starve. They'll see this inanition and be so damned they'll fall to my feet and pass up hot cross buns slathered in fresh butter and beg I forgive them. All of them . . . : the entire world one by one. Like a good priest I'll pat their heads and nod. I'll dunk my skull into a barrel of gin.

McGlue

Reviews