PanPittsburgh Post-Gazette... with a plot that is almost entirely hypothetical, Death in Her Hands is not a page-turner. There are a scant amount of scenes where Vesta talks to another person, and even in those scenes, she is unreliable, and not in a titillating way ... unfortunately, the meta-jokes don\'t save the book from how tedious, anticlimactic, and yes, slow, it is. By the end of the book, I couldn\'t help but feel like Ms. Moshfegh was simply trolling me ... It seems like at this point in her career, she no longer cares about telling a compelling story. She has readers right where any writer would want them: we\'ll keep buying her books, regardless of how disappointing they are because she has a reputation, albeit short, for writing good stuff. With Death in Her Hands, she\'s taken the joke too far and I hope with her next book, she gets on with it already.
Jenny Offill
RaveThe Pittsburgh Post-GazetteLike Dept. of Speculation, Ms. Offill’s latest novel, Weather is told in razor-sharp associative vignettes. It is just as difficult to put down as its predecessor, despite its heavier thematic content ... Ms. Offill distills modern horrors big and small into short, punchy bursts, including observations on the refugee crisis, heightened white supremacy, gentrification, and advice for living on a planet that is growing less inhabitable every day. She tackles all of this, as well as adjuncts selling their plasma and nervous white women swarming clinics for IUDs and much more, without weighing down the plot arc — an incredible feat in novelizing the political ... On the whole, Weatheris a crucial read because it’s reflective of our particular moment. I devoured it in two sittings. Like much of what we see on the news every day, it’s tempting to look away and shield ourselves, but this book implores us to do our best to pay attention and hold onto joy where we can find it.
Ottessa Moshfegh
PositivePittsburgh Post-GazetteI found Ms. Moshfegh’s fourth effort to be a bit of a sleeper (wha-wha). While things pick up speed a bit when the narrator begins sleep-buying and sleep-partying...the first half of the novel plods through the same well-worn territory ... I grew restless wondering if anything would ever change, and when the moment of catharsis finally came, Ms. Moshfegh rushed through it at a clip ... On the plus side, Ottessa Moshfegh’s signature mordant humor abounds. It turns out, watching a fictional character self-destruct is a hell of a lot of fun ... The characterization of Dr. Tuttle also shines here, providing much of the levity in an otherwise bleak story ... What’s the point of using a retrospective vantage point if the narrator of the \'now\' isn’t going to weigh in on the narrator of the past, especially considering how much danger she put herself in on this quest? ... I was thrilled by Ms. Moshfegh’s deft choice of setting: Manhattan in the year 2000. Without overstating with cultural references or doing any unnecessary foreshadowing, the author instills in us a fear for the future right from the get-go, a slow simmering tension ... Gripes aside, the aftershocks of My Year of Rest and Relaxation lingered for days for its authentic depiction of grief.
Emma Cline
RaveThe Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSome things in life are actually worth the hype. Emma Cline’s debut novel The Girls is definitely in that category ... To say The Girls is mainly about cult indoctrination would be a disservice. It’s more a crash course in how girls and women are used, and how they are reared to want male attention, offered up to men and moved around like chess pieces. It’s also about how women use one another ... As far as the writing itself, the prose is near perfect. Each line is decadent and sensuous, though at times the writing is so dripping with metaphor, it weighs the story down. Minding that, The Girls is beautifully rendered and sickeningly insightful.
Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
PanThe Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAfter reading Ms. Sweeney's debut novel, I can’t help but question [Amy] Poehler’s judgment. I found the family to be neither juicy nor particularly dysfunctional, or remotely funny ... Ms. Sweeney’s prose is tepid and long-winded. The characters are flat and unrealized ... To her credit, Ms. Sweeney captured post 9/11, pre-recession New York, that anxious space where many Americans began to realize they could lose everything in an instant, but didn’t plan accordingly; that sweet spot where we still felt entitled to the American dream.
