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15 ratings | 16 reviews | avg rating:4.93

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Claire’s Year In Books

Claire’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Claire’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Claire’s 2025 Year in Books

Claire Oshetsky’s Followers (962)

Claire’s Bookshelves

to-read (4)
currently-reading (1)
read (16)
did-not-finish (0)
chouette-ish (2)
delightfully-disorienting (2)
poor-deer-ish (1)
ruthless-books-too (3)

Claire’s Friends (26)

Lisa

1,681 books | 5 friends

Jodi

3,123 books | 109 friends

ritareadthat

4,383 books | 767 friends

Paola Iacobelli

59,062 books | 878 friends

Shannon

32,450 books | 295 friends

4,626 books | 8 friends

Emily Sunshine

728 books | 1,603 friends

Page Burton

900 books | 16 friends

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Claire Oshetsky

Goodreads Author

Born

Menominee, Michigan, USA

Website

http://claireoshetsky.com

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Vladimir Sorokin, Kenzaburō Ōe, Flannery O’Connor, Shirley Jackson, Do ...more

Member Since

December 2020

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"Listen! I will be honest with you, I do not offer the old smooth prizes..."
- Walt Whitman

I review books here on goodreads as a reader, for the most part, and not as a writer. Come follow or friend me on my reviewer's page. if you like. I visit my “Claire Oshetsky” author page so infrequently that originally my plan was to not accept friend requests here but actually that’s ok. I seem to be writing a different sort of review over here so follow me both places if you like.

Re Chouette: You may find yourself asking, Is the baby disabled? Is the baby trans? Is the baby queer? Is the baby autistic? You are entitled to your theories but from my standpoint that baby is an owl.

Re Poor Deer: The first scene is autobiographical except for ...more

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Combine Editions
Claire Oshetsky’s books

Average rating: 3.84 · 18,123 ratings · 4,027 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Poor Deer 3.95 avg rating — 7,170 ratings — published 2024 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chouette 3.88 avg rating — 6,983 ratings — published 2021 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Evil Genius 3.59 avg rating — 3,970 ratings — published 2026 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Related News

6 Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. To create our...

Claire is Currently Reading

Claire Oshetsky is currently reading

Switzy

by Emma Cline

bookshelves: currently-reading

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May 25, 2026 06:42PM

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Claire’s Recent Updates

Claire Oshetsky answered Jess's question: Hi! I really enjoyed your book 'Poor Deer', and have been wanting to read 'Chouette', but have not found a place where I could buy the book - do you have any recommendations? Thank you! :) Hi Jess. I’m glad you liked Poor Deer. I’m not sure what country you’re in since your account is private but Chouette shoulc be fairly easy to find in online bookstores, used and new, since it was published in all English-speaking countries, and also See Full Answer
Aug 21, 2026 09:36PM · like Jess oh so cool!! can't believe you responded! :D thanks so much! I hope I can find it, I really want to read it - poor deer is one of my favorite books ...more Aug 26, 2026 09:07AM · flag
Claire Oshetsky answered Richard Derus's question: Were you aware of Chad Post's emailed announcement of the Kafka Prize class of '26 nominees featuring POOR DEER with this para: "I want to bring special attention to Oshetsky, not just because she’s the most recent winner of the award, and not just because Poor Deer is an excellent book, marvelously structured, and a quite moving way of examining the lingering effects of trauma and grief..."? Thanks for letting me know, Richard! I had an incredible time last year in Rochester at the Kafka Prize events, and I got to meet Chad Post at that time, along with all the other members of the prize committee. I saw my first-ever woodchuck, too...ho See Full Answer
Jun 30, 2026 10:39PM · 3 likes · like
Claire Oshetsky made a comment on their status " I’s so happy to know I’m not the only one! "
Jun 17, 2026 08:04PM
Claire Oshetsky made a comment on their status " Thank you both! This is useful. Chouette feels “surreal” in that it’s a world where a a woman gives birth to an owl. Evil Genius feels like the normal ...more "
Jun 17, 2026 08:01PM
Claire Oshetsky added a status update: . Here is another puzzler for me. People keep calling Evil Genius “surreal” when I think it’s about normal life. What are they talking about?
Jun 08, 2026 10:17AM · 9 likes · like · see status
Claire Oshetsky wants to read Body Double by Hanna Johansson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 27, 2026 11:53AM · like
Claire Oshetsky made a comment on their status " jac I think the way you identify with the “weird girl” identity is exactly the way I want my books to be read. What feels off to me is when readers ‘o ...more "
May 01, 2026 12:38PM
Claire Oshetsky rated a book it was amazing The Five-Forty-Eight by John Cheever	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I wanted to write a little something here about how The Five-Forty-Eight by John Cheever influenced the way I wrote Evil Genius. First, here is a link to the story: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/19... The rest is going behind a spoiler tag, as it’s ...more
Mar 31, 2026 07:52AM · 8 likes · like · see review
Claire Oshetsky made a comment on their status " You got it, Jill! That makes me so happy. I wonder how many writers drop little easter eggs into their stories that barely anyone will notice, or mayb ...more "
Mar 29, 2026 11:30PM
Claire Oshetsky rated a book it was amazing Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife by Francesca Wade	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
What an extraordinary read. I almost never read biographies but this one was so special. I admit it, I’m deeply jealous of the life this genius, lesbian, intellectual, shaped-like-a-bowlingball powerhouse of a writer led. I'm jealous of the people sh ...more
Mar 16, 2026 01:33PM · 11 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Gertrude Stein by Francesca Wade. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Gertrude Stein by Francesca Wade <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Claire's books…

Quotes by Claire Oshetsky (?)

“I prefer to speak in metaphor: That way, no logic can trap me, and no rule can bind me, and no fact can limit me or decide for me what’s possible.”
― Claire Oshetsky, Chouette

tags: communication, language, logic, metaphor, rules, speech

32 likes

“Housekeeping is nothing more than a losing encounter with entropy.”
― Claire Oshetsky, Chouette

tags: entropy, housekeeping, housework

18 likes

“Time moves sideways through the most important moments of our lives.”
― Claire Oshetsky, Poor Deer

8 likes

See all Claire Oshetsky's quotes »

Polls

What book would you like to read for our March 2026 Group Read? The theme is Birds.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Historical Fiction

18 votes 26.5%

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Fantasy, Young Adult

11 votes 16.2%

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Fantasy, Horror, Gothic

9 votes 13.2%

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Memoir

7 votes 10.3%

Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Magical Realism,, Africa

6 votes 8.8%

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang
Fantasy, Asia

5 votes 7.4%

The Dark Half by Stephen King
Fantasy

4 votes 5.9%

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
Magical Realism

3 votes 4.4%

Chouette by Claire Oshetsky
Magical Realism

3 votes 4.4%

The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preußler
Fantasy, Young Adult

2 votes 2.9%

68 total votes

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