My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel

Keep in mind: This is not a spoiler because the text verbs and choice of words identifies that the narrator is speaking PAST TENSE. The book starts off with her remembering the said year when her slumber began. These events ALREADY HAPPENED — we are learning them from her - a time frame beyond the title. Many of the reviews I’ve read criticized the book for being redundant, disgusting, or confusing. Mentions of ableist due to talks of retardation, etc. I don’t see it that way. That language reflects who the main character is: blunt, short-worded, harsh, and unfiltered. We learn this from the very beginning. Yes, this book delivers exactly what the summary promises. Our main character is sleeps away a year due based off many reasons to her. HOWEVER—if you’ve ever experienced depression or serious mental health struggles, you understand where she’s coming from. And I mean real depression, grief, apathy, disgust with the world—not simply “being sad” or “needing to get a grip.” Her attempt to drug herself into a year-long sleep is exaggerated, but not so unrealistic when you consider her mental state. Her end goal was to wake up as a new person. Believes that this project will set her up to be ready to “live again” when she awakens. Why does this matter? If you have ever: • Grieved: that made others uncomfortable • Felt annoyed/overwhelmed others concern • Realized too late what you had • Experienced true emotional numbness …then you understand this narrator. She has a nihilistic view of the world—apathy, emptiness, and a desire to escape without wanting to die. TONE: flat, emotionless, and repetitive. Why? Because that is how the narrator felt during that era. She is speaking from reflecting on a time in her life that she numbed from. This book clearly creates a split in readers depending on their life experiences and expectations: Opinion A: Enjoyed the book, appreciates the darkness, bleakness, and irony, understands the narrator’s background. Opinion B: Hated the book, found it gross, dehumanizing, regrets buying it, and believes it glorifies drugging oneself into oblivion. Opinion C: Neutral, found it okay, nothing special, nothing terrible. It’s obvious the author wrote this for a specific audience. She beautifully captures how life catches up fast, how people change, and how certain experiences shape us. DIFFERENT FROM YOUR TYPICAL “coming-of-age” novel. This is NOT that. This is narrating a past event where she slept for a whole year and what she got out of it. Most average readers are not the target audience. If you prefer happy endings, or filtered positivity, this is not your book. If you read the summary and then feel shocked that you are reading darkness… I’m not sure what to tell you. The narrator is also clearly OLDER RETELLING THE PAST: indicates she was (x) amount of years old during that year of her project. She was young and not where society expects emotional maturity or closure. She’s counting to her mistakes and behavior in ways that are messy or socially unacceptable. That’s real life. Things happen & it changes people. This novel simply shows what usually happens behind closed doors and within the mind. ALL IN ALL: I loved this book. I understand the main character. The juxtaposition and character foils work well. It’s straightforward with predictable outcomes—but that’s exactly what the summary sets up, so I don’t understand why some reviewers are confused. Sometimes it takes a jarring, painful awakening to make you feel differently about living.

One star for the beginning of the book, one star for the middle, no star for the end, one star for the beautiful prose, and one for keeping me engaged in a book that was about a woman in the throes of depression, bent on self-destruction, and the lengths she will go to to sleep her life away. I can honestly say that I have never read anything like this. The main character is a self-absorbed sadomasochist, but I felt sorry for her anyway. I hated the way she treated her friend, Reva, but I came to understand why she did it; I hated the way she allowed her - boyfriend? Hook-up? Abuser? - Trevor, to mistreat her, but I came to understand why she did that, too. The beginning and middle of the story hummed along but then the third act felt rushed and out of sync. Perhaps the author painted her characters into a corner and could see no way out other than the ending, but I felt cheated. Glad I read it, however, and I will definitely consider other books by Ms Moshfegh.

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.

Not sure why! It’s bleak, funny and depressing but oh so highly entertaining! Also made me sleepy! I highly recommend!

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.

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.

I began this book and admittedly was drawn in. I guess if the author’s intent was to elicit emotion, it worked.However, the emotion was anger with a little depression mixed in. The two main characters are so mentally unstable and miserable it begins to rub off o the reader. The setting is so miserable, dirty, dark and gray I felt myself getting tired and depressed. The most upsetting thing in this book, however, is the blatant abuse of prescription drugs. With the amounts and mixtures of drugs this author describes the character taking the main character should be dead. Dead by the end of the first chapter. Adivan, ambien, lunesta, lithium, xanax, Valium, trazadone. That’s just some of what she takes. She takes them in high does mixing them with one another and also with alcohol. I’m sure if I tried I could pull this book apart, look for theme and symbolism. I could discuss the integrity of the characters. It’s not worth doing any of those things because this author is not just incredibly ignorant as to these drugs uses, side effects and long term effects but she is horribly irresponsible. Now, in the midst of an prescription drug abuse crisis this author chooses to have a character casually taking 5 ambien with a couple Xanax washed down with a Valium just to go to sleep. The amount of Lithium alone would have left this character brain damaged. When the character abruptly stops putting herself into an unrealistic drug induced stupor she suffers no side effects or withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawing from antidepressants alone is as bad as heroine withdrawal in real life. The book shamelessly promotes drug abuse- long term prescription drug abuse- as a solution to life’s problems. She glorifies the drugs, the abuse, and gives the reader tips and tricks on how to be a drug seeking patient. If any reader that wasn’t aware or what these drugs actually do she could walk away from this thinking that Ambien is harmless. That it has no side effects and that taking several at once would just give you a good night sleep. She would think that mixing Xanax, Valium and Atavan with a chaser of cough syrup isn’t dangerous or downright lethal. This is an instruction manual for suicide or for accidental overdoses. She should be ashamed of herself.

Brilliantly written. Dark, humorous, and captivating. Smart, staccato prose. The story is original and immediately draws you in. While I found the protagonist extremely unlikeable and shallow, I was invested in her story. This speaks to a keenly developed character. This is an unputdownable page-turner.

The book came sealed. I’m very happy

Skit bra bok, kunde inte lägga ner den

Such good prose and bone dry comedy, for this alone it’s more than worth the read. But this is a book that plumbs the depths by attending to the surface. In this sense it’s on a par with something like,say, ‘Lolita’. The unnamed narrator is rich, troubled and young. She decides one day to sleep her way through the mourning that can’t be done for her dead parents and loveless childhood. It’s a book about regression and addiction, written through the jaded gaze of someone squinting against the too-harsh light of reality. Assisting her down the wormhole is the gloriously insane Dr Tuttle. The finale is a curiosity and unexpectedly optimistic, but ultimately ambiguous. What is it to sleep through life- what is it to remain wide awake?

This is by far the best read of my year 2022-2023! This is dark, funny and insightful. The way it is written is so spéciale et délicieux, vraiment j'adore!! I found myself laughing out loud multiple times!! So sarcastic and witty! Dear fellow readers I totally recommend. Please give it a try!! Love you.

ending was ok