Josh Bottomly loves teaching English, casting himself in the Robin Williams role from The Dead Poets Society. But his success pushes him upward into administration, away from the classroom where his heart really lies; and when his community rejects him in a right-wing cancel-culture paroxysm, he shuts down, acutely depressed. It’s only through the unwavering support of his family and a professional therapeutic program that he’s able to both understand his depression and learn how to live again.

EUCATASTROPHE is a personal memoir of Bottomly’s depression, attempting to provide some fundamental understanding of the phenomenon through a conversational, human lens. This is not an attempt to expand the underlying scientific understanding of mental health (a la The Body Keeps the Score), and, as such, the material can feel basic to those with even a little knowledge of the mental health field. But Bottomly—writing from a religiously inflected, somewhat politically conservative community in Oklahoma—makes the argument that many people still don’t grasp those basics (or haven’t had the opportunity to learn them). That often makes his descriptions of depression extra effective: for instance, not only does he describe the overwhelming physical symptoms of depression; he describes his own confusion from experiencing them, and his process of learning about them to negotiate and overcome them. Although the material waxes poetic and sometimes veers off into textual cul-de-sacs (bulleted lists and long, comma-separated lists frequently recur), the average reader should still come away with a better understanding of, or appreciation for, how depression affects a human being.

The interest in EUCATASTROPHE, however, largely derives from the book’s relationship to other texts. Bottomly is himself an English teacher, and he frequently turns to other works to describe his thoughts and feelings. Depression might feel like “a tormenting raven” (Poe), the desert of Arrakis (Herbert), or even “a thing without feathers” (a spin on Dickinson). These references can also include fine arts (“Picasso’s Blue Period”) or modern cinema (Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies). These comparisons may not work for everyone—they skew Gen X and literate, understandably—but the more interesting point is how art and storytelling remain central to the narrative of healing. The title itself is a Tolkienism that “describes how painful events can surprise us by leading us to better places.” As Bottomly’s therapist repeats, “We name things to tame things” and “We name things to manifest things”—always hammering home the power of words and meaning to reshape our experience of the world. Bottomly’s AA-style healing program effectively culminates in the core of the book itself, “writing out a version of our life story to share with the group.” EUCATASTROPHE believes powerfully in the journey from meaning to living via narrative, and this is both subtly and explicitly reinforced from start to finish.

There are a few typos and misspellings—egregious for an English teacher!—but they don’t obstruct overall understanding or the text’s clear vision of depression and healing.

Josh Bottomly’s EUCATASTROPHE: The Story of a Modern Day Fairy Tale has a somewhat loose, scattershot arrangement, but it successfully portrays the vital, nourishing relationship between art and the self.

~Dan Accardi for IndieReader