Eileen is a remarkable work, always dark and surprising, sometimes ugly and occasionally hilarious. Its first-person narrator is one of the strangest, most chaotic, and most pathetic – yet lovable in her own inimitable way – outsiders I have encountered in fiction. Believe me, you have never read anything even remotely comparable to Eileen.

What makes Moshfegh an important writer – and I would even say a crucial one – is that she is unlike any other author. This sui generis quality is solidified by the unique, brutal suburban noir of Eileen. Here is art that manages to reject artificiality while still being something completely new and distinct in pure craftsmanship.