And when that was over it was like, ‘Oh, thank God.’[3] In 1851, McGlue, an American sailor, wakes up to find himself chained down in the hold of the boat he works on.

This doesn't make sense to McGlue, who considered Johnson his friend, and has no memory of killing him.

However, McGlue's history of alcohol abuse, violence, and a traumatic head injury leave him uncertain about what happened.

As the ship completes its route back to Salem, Massachusetts, McGlue's inebriation is replaced by agonizing withdrawals.

A scion of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Raymond Carver at once, Moshfegh transforms a poison into an intoxicant.”[5] Novelist Brian Evenson said, "Here is the story of one man’s pursuit of self-destruction and his friend who drowns in his wake, brilliantly and desperately conveyed.