Like most people, I woke up one day to find that everyone I knew was taking
antidepressants, and since I wasnt, I figured that I must be the cause of their
depression. Friends explained that I was paranoid, that everyone was on
antidepressants - even people who didnt know me - and that I should just chill
and get a prescription for Prozac or Zoloft or something.
So I thought, Hey, if so many people are depressed, maybe depression is
supposed to serve some purpose in the evolution of the human species. (Like,
keeping us from getting so cheerful that we forget to eat.) Or perhaps, like
nearsightedness, depression is something that would have been "selected out" in
the wild. (After all, saber-toothed tigers always ate the member of the tribe
wearing the thick glasses.) And perhaps a predator had evolved that was
specifically adapted to prey on the depressed (much as the saber-tooths adapted
to feed on early nerds). And what if one of these predators still existed and
was drawn to a small town where everyone had suddenly been taken off
antidepressants? And what if his name was Steve?
Well, Im sure you were thinking the same thing. So thats why I wrote this book
for you.
Sincerely,
Christopher Moore
