MashReads Podcast: Discussing David Foster Wallace's 'The Depressed Person'

"The depressed person was in terrible and unceasing emotional pain, and the impossibility of sharing or articulating this pain was itself a component of the pain and a contributing factor in its essential horror."

So begins David Foster Wallace's "The Depressed Person," a short story that details a narrator's inner thoughts and guilt about her own depression.

Inspired by a New York Magazine article, "David Foster Wallace Wrote the Best and Worst Thing About Depression," this week on the MashReads Podcast we read and discuss The Depressed Person. (PDF here)

Join us as we chat about Wallace's short story, being trapped in a character's head and whether this account captures the experience of depression.

Then inspired by Wallace's exploration of depression and sadness, we chat about things to read when you are sad including Margaret Atwood's poem "A Sad Child," Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine and The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.

And as always, we close the show with recommendations:

• Aliza recommends re-watching Parks and Recreation. "It's this look at this group of people who are just good and optimistic and earnest, and they care about each so much, and it's funny in a way that doesn't demean anyone else."

• Peter recommends the show You're The Worst, a show about terrible people being mean to each other (but is actually a very sweet show).

• MJ recommends "My 17-Year-Old Self on David Brooks on Colin Kaepernick" by Rembert Browne, a hilarious response to an op-ed in the New York Times "The Uses of Patriotism."

Also, if you are looking for something new to read, check out our official MashableReads September book club selection: The Girls, by Emma Cline. Cline will be chatting with MashReads IRL on Sept. 29, at 6:30 p.m. ET, at MashableHQ in New York City. RSVP here if you'd like to attend our bookclub discussion.

And if you're looking for more book news, don't forget to follow MashReads on Facebook and Twitter.