My Year of Rest and Relaxation

De: Ottessa Moshfegh

Narrado por: Julia Whelan

The New York Times Bestseller • New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Time, NPR, Vice, Bustle, The New York Times, The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, Entertainment Weekly, and The AV Club

“One of the most compelling protagonists modern fiction has offered in years: a loopy, quietly furious pillhead whose Ambien ramblings and Xanaxed b*tcheries somehow wend their way through sad and funny and strange toward something genuinely profound.” — Entertainment Weekly

“Darkly hilarious . . . [Moshfegh’s] the kind of provocateur who makes you laugh out loud while drawing blood.” —Vogue

“Ottessa Moshfegh is easily the most interesting contemporary American writer on the subject of being alive when being alive feels terrible.” —Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker

From one of our boldest, most celebrated new literary voices, a novel about a young woman's efforts to duck the ills of the world by embarking on an extended hibernation with the help of one of the worst psychiatrists in the annals of literature and the battery of medicines she prescribes.

Our narrator should be happy, shouldn't she? She's young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn't just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It's the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.

Surprising good!

I didn't think I was going to like this book, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I love this narrator, and she reads this oddball story as superbly as I knew she would.
Why do I like this book? I don't know. I just do.

strange but absorbing

can't decide if this story is really true. unlike any memoir I have ever read. but totally worth reading

Quite unusual

This is a unique story. There were times I was mesmerized by it and times I skipped forward a bit. The ending was a surprise and the very ending a shock. It kind of made the whole book worth it. Try it if you enjoy something different and told artistically in many ways. Narration was spot on. JC

Many Thoughts

First of all, utterly original. And I live for original. Kind of figured out where it was going but it was subtle and kudos for that. Loved the narration. It was the person this book is about that left me wanting. Wanted more realism, more connection to people in her every day life. Just went a little too far for me. Also her “friends” were kind of flat and caricature-like. But yeah I would recommend it. Overall very interesting. Close to great.

What in the world???

I found this book searching Julia Whalen, she is my favorite narrator. I read the reviews and thought I would give it a shot.
I don’t know why or how I kept listening. This book was so weird and really made no sense. The main character was selfish and I’m not really sure what she wanted to accomplish. The rest of the characters were kind of boring.
If you are looking for something you’ve never read before this is the book.

amazing. this is a new favorite.

hilarious and sad as hell. and gritty. best. so much best. and the endin... my god...

A Lovely Lucid Fog of a Story

Even though I think it’s too easy to poke snarky disdain at the art world, Ottessa Moshfegh does it so well in this book. The American dream is personified through a privileged (yet tragic) New Yorker beauty who is trying to sleep away any emotional depth with truck loads of pharmaceuticals. The writing is fabulous and the narration perfect. It is funny, sad and very thoughtful surrealistic modern tale. My favorite book of the summer!

OK story, awesome performance.

Let's face it: there's not a lot going on here story-wise. There's a lot of self-deprecating humor, sarcasm and drug use and there were plenty of points where I was rolling my eyes hearing about this person born into privilege purposely destroying themselves for no good reason. But that's also what I love about it. It's a very human story, and the reading performance is honestly what sealed the deal for me even more-so than the story itself. I found it to be particularly refreshing to slough off some of the excess holiday cheer and wallow in the dregs for a bit; helps balance things out for me. This is definitely one that I feel you have to hit at the right time, otherwise it's gonna come off real flat and boring. And it is boring, and maybe that's the point. Who knows.

What I do know is that if you're feeling a little f*ck-it around the holidays and want to do all the drugs and not feel all the feels vicariously, then here's your ticket to ride my friends.

Best work by a reader I’ve heard

I may love this book for Julia Whelan’s work. The last book I read by Moshfegh was in print and the voice in my head must not have done it justice. I ordinarily prefer print, but Whelan’s reading is now the voice I will hear if I re-read this story in print. Every word is luscious. I ignored friends and work to listen to the end.

Dark and Funny

I’m sad it’s over. The narrator’s comedic-timing for this dark-beauty is unforgettable. A great listen. I love Julie Whalen.