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There must be a section of Tom Reynolds's record collection that wards off disc jockeys like a cross repels vampires. The writer/TV producer's steep descent into depressing pop music, I Hate Myself and Want to Die is a humorous song-by-song analysis of the most egregious examples of audio torture. Its title may sound like a hackneyed VH1 special, but Reynolds steps above pointless banter by demonstrating some serious scholarship, exposing gut-wrenching stories behind these songs like the telling fact that the writers of "Without You," covered by Mariah Carey, both hung themselves.

Since no two people's sets of torture music will be the same, Reynolds's criteria and creativity in defending his choices make or break the book. Overall, his picks are solid and stick to chart-topping tragedies, ranging from the Billie Holiday lynching tune "Strange Fruit" ("Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze") to a prescient analysis of Johnny Cash's superior cover of Trent Reznor's "Hurt." Reynolds also manages to sneak in some unknown misfires, like his number one pick "The Christmas Shoes," a Christian adult contemporary Christmas song (already depressing) about poor kids buying slippers for their terminally ill mom to wear in heaven (kill me already).

Reynolds makes a point of differentiating sad songs, which are all about empathy, from truly depressing songs, which offer a tragic mix of musical misfires and overwrought emotions; this explains the exclusion of famously mopey musicians like Elliot Smith and Leonard Cohen. Readers may be put off by Reynolds's occasional overdone denouncement or phrase, sometimes containing the same type of overwrought metaphor ("listening to 'The End' is like staring at a whale-sized Rorschach test") that he lambastes songwriters for using throughout the book. But that's a minor concern. I Hate Myself and Want to Die is an entertaining and well-researched set of cautionary tales music fans will enjoy. Consider the list a batch of enthralling liner notes for a box set that comes with razor blades.