Homesick for Another World

“Most people were huddled in random patterns, gazing up at the menu boards, eyes glazed over, touching their chins, pointing, nodding.

         ‘Are you in line?’ I kept asking them. Nobody would answer me.”

This passage highlights the isolation Mooney, and many of Moshfegh’s characters, face in daily life. Although Mooney is the one high on cocaine and in mental distress in this scene, the passage depicts the people around her as animalistic and disconnected from reality, moving senselessly. Her inability to connect with these people heightens the tension of this climactic scene.

“The woman had one flaccid hand that reminded Mr. Wu of a large prawn. He shuddered and gagged whenever he saw it. He felt sorry for the child, held and fed by that twisted, thin, limp, and red-skinned tentacle.”

Mr. Wu’s disgust with the human body is central to the story that bears his name. Here, he describes the appearance of his neighbor’s wife’s hand with astonishing cruelty. Although he views it with disgust, the tender, loving embrace described here is more contact than Wu receives from the object of his affection, who he knows views him with disgust.

“The woman at the arcade looked worried and unkempt. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore a stained trench coat over her dress. He tried not to pay attention to her disarray. Once she was his, he could dress her any way he liked.”

This passage suggests that, although Mr. Wu obsesses over the arcade worker, he does not fully understand her or see her as a full human being. As soon as he has the chance to really get to know her, he begins to see her flaws. He believes that, once she is in love with him, he can mold her into his perfect woman. Ultimately, the story suggests he is in love with the idea of the woman more than the actual woman.

“If I ever write a book, it will be filled with tricks and tips for men. For example, if your face is puffy, fill your mouth with coffee grounds.”

This quote demonstrates the extent to which the narrator’s eating disorder dominates his life. Facial puffiness is a symptom of bulimia. Caffeine is known to constrict blood vessels, reducing puffiness. However, the traditional recommendation is to put coffee grounds on the skin (like a mask), rather than directly in the mouth, which would be both uncomfortable and make it difficult to breathe. That the narrator would take such extreme measures to avoid puffiness demonstrates the extent of his disorder.

“If you want something and can’t have it, want something else. Want what you deserve. You’ll probably get it.”

The unnamed narrator of “Malibu”—like many of Moshfegh’s characters—admits his own shortcomings while also expecting perfection of others. The irony of this passage is that what the narrator wants (a beautiful woman) is not ultimately what he gets. He believes that Terri is beneath him, when the reality is she is the only one who is willing to have sex with him.

“The thought crossed my mind: Perhaps I am learning humility. Perhaps this man is the answer to my prayers. Perhaps he is saving my soul.”

The narrator is explicit about how much she hates her boyfriend. However, this passage suggests that she believes being with him and loving him will make her a better person. This belief may explain her reluctance to leave him, despite her disgust for his appearance, behavior, and beliefs. It may also explain the story’s final suggestion that he is the man of her dreams.

“‘What’s with the birds?’ He asked.

‘They’re Egyptian crows,’ I told him. But I’m going to shoot them all.’

I figured they were weirdos and nothing I said to them mattered.”

At first glance, the title of this story may seem to point to Moon Kowalski and her husband, the two potential tenants the narrator meets. However, this passage—in which the narrator casually repeats her boyfriend’s violent delusions—suggests that the titular “weirdos” may in fact be the narrator and her boyfriend.

“I loved it, or at least I thought I ought to love it—I’ve never been very clear on that distinction.”

Charles, the narrator of this story, is obsessed with appearances, especially the superficial differences that separate him from his brother but lacks a strong sense of self. His uncertain feelings about the cabin echo his uncertain feelings about many aspects of his life, such as his relationship with his wife and his career. This passage suggests that he may not have a true sense of what he likes or dislikes.

“I was so paranoid, so deeply anxious. When I got high, I felt as though a dark curtain had been pulled across the world and I was left there alone to waver in its cold, dark shadows.”

Charles sees the cabin as a refuge from the reality of his life. Although he treats himself to his favorite foods and wine, he also engages in behaviors he knows will make him feel worse, like smoking marijuana. When he meets Michelle, he recognizes the “dark curtain” in her, suggesting that he has more in common with Michelle and his brother than he is willing to admit.

“The place was full of fat ladies and their men, who looked wrinkled and haggard, heaps of mashed potatoes disappearing under the crooked awnings of their thick mustaches.”

Larry is frequently critical of his ex-wife’s figure, blaming her eating habits for her early death by heart attack. His disgust with fat bodies is a prominent motif in the short story. Here, Larry gets a glimpse of what his life would be like if his wife was still alive; his disgust with the men is evident in his description.

“And she was a snob, on top of it. She would have rolled her eyes if she’d seen me eating at a Friendly’s with a couple of […] [r******]. She would never have understood why I was there. She had no idea what it meant to expand one’s horizons.”

Initially, Larry claims to be working at Offerings because he likes spending time with people who appreciate him; this passage suggests that he also believes his work is helping him to become a better, more empathetic person than his wife was. His callous use of the r-slur, however, demonstrates a lack of true connection with Paul, Claude, and Francis. Although he spends his days with these men, he cannot see them as anything other than their disabilities.

“I left her there, went to the den, unwrapped my sandwich on the coffee table, and unscrewed my soda. I was a grown-up. I could sit on the sofa and eat a sandwich. I didn’t have to call my mother. I didn’t even have to clean my own house.”

As the title suggests, the narrator of this story considers herself superior to the year-round residents of the town of Alna. Her encounter with the pregnant teenager offers the narrator the opportunity to feel superior both to the girl (who is literally serving her) and her mother (who is allowing her to be exploited in this way). The story makes clear that the narrator is not morally superior to the people of Alna, whom she is exploiting in the name of adventure and escapism.

“Each time I met them in the bathroom I felt I was walking in naked, as if I were some pilgrim approaching a saint. I offered ten dollars and I received my blessing.”

Throughout the story, the narrator refers to the Alna locals dealing with addiction as “zombies”; in this passage, however, the people who sell drugs are transformed into holy figures. The reference to pilgrims highlights the narrator’s position as an outsider, while the reference to the drug dealers as saints points to their importance within the community. Although the narrator sees herself as fundamentally different from the people of Alna, this passage suggests she is fully integrated into the town’s culture.

“Jeb had even heard her passing as a few times, and he hoped one day to tell her so. ‘And yet my affection for you did not diminish,’ he imagined saying. ‘In fact, it only endeared me to you more.’”

This passage is indicative of Jeb’s inability to understand how he appears to others. Here, he imagines himself telling his neighbor how, when he was spying on her from his basement, he enjoyed listening to her pass gas. He imagines this to be a charming anecdote, evidence of his devotion to her. In reality, it’s a disturbing admission of his violation of her privacy.

“He looked at her downturned face. Her head hung to one side, resting on her shoulder. John smoothed her hair, put a hand on her knee for a moment, changed the channel to the baseball game, lowered the volume, ate the rest of the popcorn, then fell asleep beside her.”

This heartbreaking passage, in which John unknowingly falls asleep next to his dead wife, highlights the intimacy John and Marcia shared in life. John’s loving touches and attention to the TV’s volume suggest that Marcia has fallen asleep like this many times before, and that John is comfortable just sitting with his wife. The dramatic irony of this passage comes from the fact that the reader knows Marcia is dead, while John does not.

“His breath caught. He choked and coughed. The wild thumping of his heart stopped. He belched loudly, from the depths of his gut, as though releasing some dark spirit that had been lodged down there his whole life.”

John’s grief causes him to act irrationally in the second half of the story: this passage suggests that grief is manifesting physically in John’s body. Given the emphasis on John’s physical intimacy with Marcia, it makes sense that his body would have a physical reaction to grief. The disruption of his belch in the funeral mirrors the disruption of Marcia’s death in his life.

“I looked into the lens of the camera and saw my upside-down reflection. It was like I was trapped in there in the darkness, suspended from the ceiling, unable to move.”

Before leaving Utah, the unnamed narrator sees Los Angeles as the solution to his problems, a place where he can become someone important and loved. When he arrives, he is faced with nothing but rejection and objectification. This audition scene is the moment when the narrator realizes the difficulty of his position and begins to appreciate how lonely he really is.

“All I had to show for my earnings as a graphic designer were my computer and a rack of expensive clothes, each item safely sealed in a clear plastic garment bag.”

Nearly all of Nick’s income goes to expensive clothing; as a result, he is forced to live in a crowded, unhygienic building in an eight-by-eight room. His clothes are sealed in garment bags in order to protect them from the bugs, mice, and general grime in his apartment. The disparity between the fine clothing and the distressing surroundings is indicative of Nick’s disordered patterns of thinking.

“The only faces I could hope to recognize were the lovers on the other side of the gypsum. I’d seen them entering their room once on my way back from the toilets. Where were they now? I wondered. Dancing in the fucking moonlight?”

Although the primary focus of this story is Nick’s obsession with Britt, the seemingly romantic title comes from this throw-away line about Nick’s neighbors. Although he lives close enough to hear the neighbors having sex, he does not know their names, and barely recognizes them. This passage highlights Nick’s isolation, both from sexual intimacy—which he sarcastically resents—and familiarity with his neighbors.

“Life can be strange sometimes, and knowing it can be doesn’t seem to make it any less so. I know I don’t have any real wisdom. I don’t have any wonderful ideas. I am lucky to have found a few nice people here and there.”

This quote could easily serve as a thesis statement for the collection as a whole. Moshfegh’s short stories offer a glimpse at the strangest corners of humanity, without offering any clear wisdom or explanation. The reader is lucky to encounter moments of kindness, beauty, and joy scattered across the text. As a whole, the collection suggests that these “few nice people” are worth the trouble of the rest of the world.

“There is no need for forgiveness or escape or medicine. I hear only the wind in the trees, and my devils hatching their sacral plans, cursing all the shattered pieces together into a blanket of ice. I have found that it’s under that ice that I can feel I am just another normal person. In the dark and cold, I am at ‘peace.’”

Stephanie Reilly offers one of the clearest examples of mental health conditions in the collection. She hears voices and attributes her pituitary problems to demonic possession. Here, she describes the comfort she feels in accepting the voices and other manifestations of her mental health condition, rather than fighting them. Stephanie’s demons form a metaphorical blanket that allows her to feel something close to peace.

“The end of the rope did not reach the ground, but if one of us climbed down to the end of it, the remaining distance to the sidewalk was only one or two stories. I didn’t think it would be a lethal jump.”

This passage is indicative of the relative naiveté of the narrator. Although she recognizes the severity of her situation, she is resorting to movie-style hijinks to try to escape the locked room. Her belief that jumping two stories would be non-lethal also suggests her inexperience.

“He looks like any normal grandfather, eyes drooping, white beard, wrinkled cheeks, and a nose like a melted candle. When he moves away from the window, his fingernails tap against the glass. They are long and yellow like an ogre’s.”

This passage, in which Urszula sees Jarek Jaskolka for the first time, uses visual symbolism to embody the idea of a painful, frightening secret hidden behind a seemingly pleasant surface. At first glance, he seems harmless; however, on closer inspection, his monstrous nature is revealed. This realization mirrors Urszula’s discovery that the “random” name she chose was in fact the name of her mother’s abuser. That Jaskolka’s villainous character is reflected so clearly in his appearance also shows the story’s adherence to the generic conventions of the fairy tale rather than those of modern literary realism.