We live in a time of engineered intimacy, toxic memes and online addiction. Can we ever break free?

Sad Topographies is an illustrated guide for the melancholic among us. Dispirited travellers rejoice as Damien Rudd journeys across continents in search of the world’s most joyless place names and their fascinating etymologies. Behind each lugubrious place name exists a story, a richly interwoven narrative of mythology, history, landscape, misadventure and tragedy. From Disappointment Island in the Southern Ocean to Misery in Germany, across to Lonely Island in Russia, or, if you’re feeling more intrepid, pay a visit to Mount Hopeless in Australia – all from the comfort of your armchair. With hand drawn maps by illustrator Kateryna Didyk, Sad Topographies will steer you along paths that lead to strange and obscure places, navigating the terrains of historical fact and imaginative fiction. At turns poetic and dark-humoured, this is a travel guide quite like no other. Damien Rudd is the founder of the hugely popular Instagram account @sadtopographies.

"Who is sad? Sad is anyone. It comes along and finds you."--Provided by publisher.

We think, feel, and talk in metaphors. Why not use them for design? Feeling down? Cheer up! We use metaphors every day and often without being aware of it. Many metaphors are more than figures of speech. They reflect basic bodily experiences and help to structure our thinking and experiences of the world. Happy is Up, Sad is Down is a collection of 65 metaphors with research facts and applications in product and interaction design, information graphics, and advertising. Metaphors show how to use space and physical attributes to convey abstract concepts like time and importance, emotions and social relations, political ideas and ethical values. This book is meant to inspire designers and everyone curious about how the mind works.

New York Times Bestseller! A delightful and quirky compendium of the Animal Kingdom’s more unfortunate truths, with over 150 hand-drawn illustrations. Ever wonder what a mayfly thinks of its one-day lifespan? (They’re curious what a sunset is.) Or how a jellyfish feels about not having a heart? (Sorry, but they’re not sorry.) This melancholy menagerie pairs the more unsavory facts of animal life with their hilarious thoughts and reactions. Sneakily informative, and wildly witty, SAD ANIMAL FACTS will have you crying with laughter.

"Unapologetically intimate essays on sex, death, mental illness, and other taboos by poet and writer Melissa Broder, the creator of @sosadtoday."--From cover.

Photographs of chairs and other neglected furniture in St. Louis, Mo.