Icould not put this book down! Actually, I did put it down to go to work, early morning yoga, oh and that one time I went to see Dead Pool 2 (which was really good). I probably could have read it in one sitting but I kinda didn’t want it to end.

Eileen is the story of well…Eileen a fictional character who narrates this book. Older, now she recounts her younger life in “X-Ville” a fictional town in Massachusettes in her decrepit childhood home with her mentally abusive father and working at a detention center for underage boys. Eileen decides that she is going to leave her horrible job and crazy father who depends on her to care for him and supply him with a bottle of whiskey on the daily. There is a passage that sums up the plot of this book perfectly:

“So here we are. My name is Eileen Dunlop. Now you know me. I was twenty-four years old and had a job that paid fifty-seven dollars a week as a kind of secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. I think of it now as what it really was for all intents and purposes- a prison for children. I will call it Moorhead. Delvin Moorehead was a terrible landlord I had years later, and so to use his name for such a place feels appropriate. In a week, I would run away from home and never go back. This is the story of how I disappeared.”

The story takes place over a week leading up to her leaving “X-Ville” and it is morbid, funny, and really f*cked up at times (but in a good way). The author Ottessa Moshfegh is a genius at conveying Eileen’s deep thoughts and building suspense across 272 pages. Towards the end, there is a surprising twist leading to a brilliant and satisfying ending. This is the realest book that I’ve read that’s not real.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize- “Eileen” by Ottessa Moshfegh is our new book selection!