Lonely: Learning to Live with Solitude, Emily White (McClelland & Stewart)

White presents a deeply intimate account of her chronic struggle with loneliness, evoking the barrenness of an existence marked by sparse human contact, devoid of intimate connections. White asserts that loneliness is a distinct---and stigmatized---psychological problem, deserving of public attention. Her clinical breakdown of loneliness, compounded by existing research, is illuminating. Yet, in investigating a "cure" for loneliness, White falls short. For a supposedly embedded psychological condition that can transcend externalities, like the presence---or absence---of a social network, the only antidote she finds is connections with others. White leaves us with the cruel reality of the affliction; unlike depression, there is no anti-lonely pill---at least not yet.