Taking Power Back in Moshfegh's Eileen

 Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh 

Detroit Juvenile Detention Home in 1956  Anonymous, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Eileen was the first book I read by Moshfegh, and it set me off on a quest to read as much as I could from her over the next few months. I absolutely loved this book, and I especially loved the narration of Eileen, a young woman who works in a juvenile detention center, and has to deal with the sexism and misogyny from both men and women around her, until she meets Rebecca Saint John, one of the new educators in the detention facility. I was shocked by Eileen’s narration, and her blunt and transgressive observations kept me glued to the book. Although her life is pretty dreary, dealing with her alcoholic father, recounting the life of her mother, who seemed to really have no agency or voice, and serving as a secretary in a prison for boys, Eileen doesn’t seem to have much, but is able to create this kind of inner world where she exacts revenge and bends others to her will. I loved the setting of the juvenile detention center as a kind of parallel to the outside world, where no one really has any freedom and even those vested with authority (like police, parents) are still prisoners in one way or another. Eileen’s hopes and outlook change when she meets Rebecca, who develops a plan to break some of the boys out of the prison. I won’t give away the ending, but I really enjoyed the way the book ends, and what we learn about Eileen’s life. I also loved the way that Eileen’s voice and outlook evolved over the course of the novel, moving from a kind of pessimist and cynic, to someone who has a certain degree of hope. I found her to be kind of like Holden Caufield, but much more dejected and desperate. Like other Moshfegh books, Eileen has some crazy and absurd experiences, especially when she drinks. Although the novel can be brutal at times, I really enjoyed Eileen’s story and seeing how she planned an escape, not only from the prison, but also from her life and the forces that have exerted control over her for most of her existence. Highly recommended—entertaining, absurd and hilarious.