In this memoir (and it’s short, barely 200 pages long), he manages to articulate, both the bleakness of depression and the means of dealing with it, little by little, day by day, without ever sounding maudlin, or self-indulgent, or preachy. “Matt Haig is a marvellous writer: limpid tender passionate. “Full of wisdoms and warmth” NATHAN FILER “Brings a difficult and sensitive subject out of the darkness and into the light” MICHAEL PALIN “Maybe the most important book I’ve read this year” SIMON MAYO “For anyone who has faced the black dog, or felt despair, this marvellous book is a real comfort, dealing sympathetically with depression, written with candour and from first-hand experience. Words, just sometimes, really can set you free.’ The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven’t been able to see it.

The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. ‘I wrote this book because the oldest clichés remain the truest. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again.Ī moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It was named as one of Entertainment Weekly’s Must-Read Books of 2016.Īged 24, Matt Haig’s world caved in. It has been published by 29 publishers around the world. Reasons to Stay Alive is a Sunday Times number 1 bestseller and was in the top ten charts for 49 weeks.

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig