‘Unless you are completely shut down and in denial, there’s no way you’re getting out of this without having changed.’
Ottessa Moshfegh on 2020 and her new novel.
Ottessa Moshfegh joined Josie Mitchell to talk about about her novel, Death in Her Name.
They discuss the ‘perfect storm’ trapping us inside with our Zoom-ready devices, the propaganda in the air, and the psychological effects of isolation on the elderly narrator of her novel.
You can read an excerpt from Death In Her Name here. As well as more fiction from Ottessa on our website and in print.
Image © Jake Belcher
‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
