“Six Very Depressing Books That Might Just Cheer You Up” by Rabih Alameddine in Lit Hub

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On September 2, 2025, Lit Hub published “Six Very Depressing Books That Might Just Cheer You Up” by Lannan Visiting Chair Rabih Alameddine.

“I’ve always read my way through depressions. When my world sucks, I shut the drapes, hide under the cover, and read. And I will read everything: novels, classics, epic fantasy, romance, spy novels, you name it. 

These last couple of years have been especially sucky, though. Watching a genocide being live streamed is something no sane person could abide. Seeing masked gestapo agents disappearing people in broad daylight is devastating. And what can I say about people who I thought were moderately intelligent acquiescing to the demands of a narcissistic sociopath?

If you’re not depressed, you’re not paying attention. 

The other day, however, when I finished a wonderful novel, I realized I was feeling better. The world might suck, but I can still be inspired. I’m assuming here that everyone reading this knows the James Baldwin quote: 

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

So, in this maelstrom of shittiness, I offer you a list of depressing novels that can lift you out of depression—a list that will not include my new novel, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), because it would be too cringe to promote my novel on my list.”

Continue reading “Six Very Depressing Books That Might Just Cheer You Up” at Lit Hub.