My Year of Rest and Relaxation

By: Ottessa Moshfegh

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Time, NPR, Amazon,Vice, Bustle, The New York Times, The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, Entertainment Weekly, The AV Club, & Audible

A New York Times Bestseller

“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

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.

©2018 Ottessa Moshfegh (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“I don't think I'm ever going to get over Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation.”—Parul Sehgal, The New York Times

“Ottessa Moshfegh is easily the most interesting contemporary American writer on the subject of being alive when being alive feels terrible. She has a freaky and pure way of accessing existential alienation, as if her mind were tapped directly into the sap of some gnarled, secret tree. . . . Watching Moshfegh turn her withering attention to the gleaming absurdities of pre-9/11 New York City, an environment where everyone except the narrator seems beset with delusional optimism, horrifically carefree, feels like eating bright, slick candy—candy that might also poison you.”—Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker

“Darkly comic and ultimately profound new novel. . . . Moshfegh’s extraordinary prose soars as it captures her character’s re-engagement.”—Vendela Vida, New York Times Book Review

You haven't heard this story before.

I can honestly say I've never read a story like this before. I can also say I didn't really like it, and I thought the protagonist was a pretty terrible human being. I think that's the point, the point the author was trying to make, but that doesn't mean it's easy to listen to her being terrible to everyone around her.

It was a interesting story though and quite unique. I can appreciate it even if it's not something I would recommend to other people! So, if you want a fairly odd book about an unpleasant individual sedating themselves through the year 2000-2002, go for it!

In the style of Chuck Palahniuk

Couldn't believe this many chapters could chronicle a sleep/drug bender with no dreams. I regretted the purchase, predicted the end, but still just had to listen. So, in a way, it provided just the entertainment I was looking for. Like Chuck Palahniuk books, you definitely don't want to unplug your headphones and have parts of the book belted out in your quiet office building.

Count me IN for anything Ottessa Moshfegh!

What the????? There was absolutely no plot beyond this crazy woman attempting to drug herself into oblivion for a year, convinced that this would somehow be the equivalent of reformatting her hard drive. We follow her in and out of sleep, her psychiatrist's office, the bodega, pharmacies, blackouts, day tripping, night tripping, etc. We look to see what's lurking under the bed. No plot? Why did I keep listening? Actually, I couldn't stop! The narrative was hypnotic, sometimes disgusting, and darkly (very darkly) humorous. The character drove the bus, even with her eyes closed. Moshfegh can write a marvelously repugnant character like few others. This book was ALMOST as good as EILEEN. Count me IN for anything by Ottessa Moshfegh.

Privileged White Woman Can't Deal for 7 Hours

I'm a big fan of drug memoirs/fiction, Cat Marnell's book is one of my favorites for example. This one, however was extremely bland, boring and unrelatable. The main character is basically so apathetic she has never cared to enjoy life and never will so she decides to do a lot of downers and sleep all the time. Her best friend is boring but also treated horribly but in a boring and repetitive way. It's well written and well narrated but the plot just doesn't exist and the main character has no depth. I find myself thinking damn girl why don't you just kill yourself? It would be more interesting if she had had passion at some point in her life but it's literally just "I've been beautiful and rich and bored forever" without any good sex or drug scenes to make that fun at least. I couldn't finish it.

outstanding performance

The narrator is the main reason why I finished this book. The protagonist is a hot mess.

Bizarre, Brutal, Indulgent, Interesting

This book is hard to rate because I was captivated by it (Julia Whelan is a tremendous narrator but was distracted by her pronunciation of a few words... 'mauve' being the most stark example) but it was uncomfortable to have a protagonist so flippant and selfish. It is an indulgent book in that most people have the desire to have their own version of a year relaxation, but it isn't practical or grounded in reality. To be wafer thin and on those medications at those doses doesn't work like that. Again, I was quite engaged the entire time so it was worth the read.

Not much happens

I know this is a story about a year of rest but there was just too much resting and not enough happening. It just wasn't very enjoyable.

Great main character

I thought the unlikable narrator was pretty darn relatable. (Uh oh?) At the same time, I don’t think we’re supposed to take everything she says at face value. In any case, this book very funny and sharp, and the ending is really memorable and beautiful. The reader is fantastic, too.

Amazing!

I loved every moment of this. I really FELT this character.

This is officially in my regular rotation of favorite books to reread from now on!

Different point of view!

To each their own. This was very well done. And nothing I have ever thought of! Great listen (3 times).