5 Books That Are Mean-Spirited

by Nick Roberts
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5 books
If you’ve ever read a book that made you sit back and think, “Dang, that author really went for the jugular with that one,” then you’ve encountered a book that does not care about your feelings. These books don’t follow the rules of polite society, but they assert their literary merit through narrative authenticity. This is my list of five books that will give you a knee to the gut and a pat on the back, leaving you used and abused and smiling as they walk away.
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The Killer Inside Me

Jim Thompson, 2011
A small-town deputy sheriff harbors a dark secret under his meek façade. Because this story is told in a first-person narrative, the reader is trapped in the protagonist’s mind as he descends deeper and deeper into depravity and desperation, struggling to keep his two worlds from collapsing on one another.

Gone to See the River Man

Kristopher Triana, 2023
What’s more mean-spirited than a serial killer? How about the groupies who worship and idolize them? This book showcases one demented girl’s quest to impress her imprisoned soulmate by carrying out a task for the killer that she’s only known from behind bars. With her sister in tow, the two women embark on a dark odyssey to make an offering to the mythical River Man.

Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves

Mark Z. Danielewski, Zampanò, 2000
The premise of Danielewski’s magnum opus is simple enough: a house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. This discovery leads a family into a nightmarish quest to uncover the mystery or go insane trying. What’s particularly mean-spirited about House of Leaves isn’t necessarily the plot; it’s the book’s structure. With the heft of a phone book (remember those?) and formatting that’s designed to make readers question their sanity, this is truly a mind-melting exercise in style over substance that will forever alter your perception of space.

Dopefiend

Donald Goines, 2021
Any book that peels back the curtain to a lifestyle that’s anathema to the reader can be quite jarring. It’s hard to imagine going into a book titled Dopefiend and being caught off-guard, but Goines’ own lived experience informs this unforgiving narrative that holds the reader hostage, forcing him or her to walk in the shoes of the harsh, often abhorrent, realities of heroin addiction. This book makes Requiem for a Dream look like a day at Disneyland.

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis, 2012
No list about mean-spirited books would be complete without an offering from the literary bad boy, Bret Easton Ellis, and American Psycho is the author at the top of his game, both stylistically and prosaic. Patrick Bateman is a young, thriving Wall Street businessman who serves as narrator to this scathing critique of the consumer culture of the 1980s. Like The Killer Inside Me the reader is subjected to Bateman’s narcissistic inner monologues that range from pages-long critiques of 80s music, clothes, and New York cuisine to the most sadistic depictions of violence ever put to paper. American Psycho takes the crown for the most mean-spirited book because of its challenging style, unflinching violence, and the backlash this transgressive work of art endured upon its release in the 90s. Now it sits in the classic literature section of your local Barnes & Noble.