Homesick for Another World Ottessa Moshfegh (USA): 2017.

This is a wonderful collection of 14 short stories dealing with personal degradation, loss, and striving for connection. They are all quite bleak, yet immensely entertaining and satisfying. None of the stories contain an overriding plot to keep the story moving, it is simply a picture of a life or lives, and consequences to decisions people make in a lifetime and day to day. The stories remind me of the better ones from Lucia Berlin that I have enjoyed so much.

The final story, "A Better Place," is a bit different than the rest but also summaries all the others quite well. It captures the essence of the title of the collection and explores our desires for someplace better through the eyes of two small children. Again, there is no ultimate resolution, but one is left, like in the other collected stories, wondering what keeps us coming back for more, dealing with our defects, and carrying on another day. Highly recommended.