Eight Books for Indulging a Bad Mood
Anyone who has spent an hour on the couch wallowing in self-pity knows that it can feel good to feel bad. Your dive into dysphoria might start with anything from passing irritation to a genuine blow. From there, you sink into the cushions, urging yourself more deeply into the recesses of despair. As your dejection grows, other bad feelings intrude. Anger at people who have slighted you. Embarrassment, as you replay humiliating conversations in your mind. Shame, because instead of doing anything to solve your problems, you are lying around, indulging yourself.
Taking pleasure in negative emotions might seem morally suspect or maladaptive, a case of pointless narcissism. Such self-willed agony, though, has its element of delight. Giving in to bad moods can clarify features of the external world, as when our anger alerts us to the presence of injustice. Or it can lead to catharsis, leaving us in brighter spirits than when we began. In succumbing to our stormy feelings, we give vent to ordinarily proscribed thoughts. The sense of power is delicious, even if we’re only punishing ourselves. As you fling yourself on the furniture, why not languish with a book in hand? After all, art is the domain where dark emotions, and the insights they make possible, are most What follows is a list of books that submerge us in ugly feelings. These titles affirm that marinating in negativity can be a source of glee. And in yielding to irritation, contempt, or indecision—or any of the psychological states represented on this list—we might learn something about the depths we contain.
