Sasha Frere-Jones recommends The Book of Disquiet and other books, but more importantly, The Book of Disquiet. (I love this book and started a website in the mid-2000’s with various writer-types reacting to passages from Pessoa’s book. Here it is. Time to see if the engine turns over?)
In the comments section of SFJ’s post, Helen DeWitt recommends reading Calvino’s Invisible Cities untranslated along with a list of books you’ll never be able to find, unless you live near a library. If you’re depressed and you live nowhere near a library, this is a non-reading matter that you can address toward ameliorating your depression.
Yes.
Writer James Bradley’s wonderful essay on the links, both real and mythologized, between mental health and creativity. A highly recommended read.
I’m still seething about Franzen’s remarks (confirmed by the reporter to me this weekend to have been the entirety of his statement - so, not out of context) regarding DFW and his suicide. I’m tired tonight and don’t feel like launching into another rant about Franzen, but I did want to pop in here long enough to share this excellent essay on depression written by DFW in 1998. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but you’ll come away from it with a better idea of what can lead someone to end their life.
