Essa World

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017 An electrifying first collection from one of the most exciting short story writers of our time "I can’t recall the last time I laughed this hard at a book. Simultaneously, I’m shocked and scandalized. She’s brilliant, this young woman."—David Sedaris Ottessa Moshfegh's debut novel Eileen was one of the literary events of 2015. Garlanded with critical acclaim, it was named a book of the year by The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. But as many critics noted, Moshfegh is particularly held in awe for her short stories. Homesick for Another World is the rare case where an author's short story collection is if anything more anticipated than her novel. And for good reason. There's something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh's stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition. But part of the unique quality of her voice, the echt Moshfeghian experience, is the way the grotesque and the outrageous are infused with tenderness and compassion. Moshfegh is our Flannery O'Connor, and Homesick for Another World is her Everything That Rises Must Converge or A Good Man is Hard to Find. The flesh is weak; the timber is crooked; people are cruel to each other, and stupid, and hurtful. But beauty comes from strange sources. And the dark energy surging through these stories is powerfully invigorating. We're in the hands of an author with a big mind, a big heart, blazing chops, and a political acuity that is needle-sharp. The needle hits the vein before we even feel the prick.

Industrially developing countries have the largest populations, the highest levels of poverty, poor health, and illiteracy, and the greatest need for improvement in working conditions. And as the marketplace and the workforce goes increasingly global, accountability with regard to the abuse of cheap labor in developing countries is becoming an issue. Presenting a global view of the state of ergonomics in industrially developing countries (IDCs), Ergonomics in Developing Regions: Needs and Applications identifies problems, offers solutions, and explores costs and benefits. It defines the steps that can be taken to close the gap between working conditions in affluent and deprived nations. The book highlights the plight of millions of laborers and the poor working conditions pertaining to industrially less developed countries where the working environment mirrors the socio-economic deprivation of the people. Woven throughout the 34 chapters of this book is the tenet that good ergonomics is good economics. The chapters include examples of low-cost interventions at the work place in IDCs. The contributors discuss the ripple effect of ergonomics beyond the workplace to the betterment of life in general for the huge workforce in IDCs around the world. They focus on work-site problems and ergonomic solutions in developing regions around the globe, covering work conducted in Asia, Africa, South America, Russia, and China. Examining the factors unique to IDCs, leading ergonomists provide insights as to how sustainable progress is achievable in the developing world. They demonstrate the need for a more inclusive macro approach, citing managerial input essential for sustainable progress. With a panel of authors that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the field, this book chronicles the nuances of differences in aim, practice, and outcome when ergonomists tackle Developing World problems from a Developing World perspective.