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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
No graphic violence; the narrator's deteriorating condition
Language
A lot
Strong language throughout
Sexual Content
Some
Some adult sexual content
Substance Use
Very heavy
Extreme prescription drug use is the entire premise; multiple psychoactive substances in dangerous combinations throughout
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological horror of a person choosing obliteration; the emptiness beneath the narrator's privileged surface
What this book is about
The unnamed narrator has everything: beauty, money, a prestigious job, a coveted apartment. She also has a psychiatrist willing to prescribe any combination of medication that will keep her asleep. Her goal: sleep for a year, emerge transformed. Moshfegh's deliberately provocative novel is a portrait of a woman using pharmacological obliteration as a response to privilege, emptiness, and grief—told in a voice of controlled deadpan that is simultaneously funny and deeply unsettling.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Extreme drug use as the novel's central subject
Strong language throughout
Adults only; may be triggering for those with substance or mental health history
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