short stories are the perfect medium for delivering narratives like these, where the main character is absolutely dreadful. i did not have to spend too much time with them, just enough to be captivated but depart as soon as they became overwhelming. this book is dark, disgusting, depressing. i would recommend this sparingly, but i myself enjoyed it. despite many of the protagonists being loathsome, what Moshfegh nails is the fleeting moments where you related to these people. universal themes of loneliness, isolation, grief, unworthiness, etc give even the worst characters a realistic edge. the phrase or sentence that reflects on a feeling you have experienced in the midst of a horrifying narrative is well done and makes many of these stories stuck in your mind. 

my faves were :
slumming 
dancing in the moonlight 
the surrogate 
a better place