McGlue

I normally eat up whatever Moshfegh writes. In a way, this is also the case: I wasn't enjoying the experience but I just kept on reading.
This is Moshfegh's literary debut. Her voice is still a little blunt and her unreliable narrator reliably predictable. The writing craft is already strong - there is one page in 118 almost entirely consistent of a list of goods traded aboard 19th century merchant ships that is a joy to read through.
Sadly, the credibility is occasionally marred by lack of historical research or fact-checking: reading that a 1851 drunken sailor had been prescribed ‘vitamins' in the form of ‘pills' by a medical doctor was simply off-putting to me.