Contra la Felicidad: En Defensa de la Melancolia = Against Happiness

Wilson, chair of Wake Forest University's English Department, claims that Americans today are too interested in being happy. It is inauthentic and shallow, charges Wilson, to relentlessly seek happiness in a world full of tragedy. While he does not want to ""romanticize clinical depression,"" Wilson argues forcefully that ""melancholia"" is a necessary ingredient of any culture that wishes to be innovative or inventive. Wilson's meditations about artists ranging from Melville to Lennon are stirring. Wilson calls for Americans to recognize and embrace melancholia, and he praises as bold radicals those who already live with the truth of melancholy. PW12/17/07