Fictional characters with social phobia.

Reality · Guest

I read a lot of novels, and I often encounter characters that have social phobia (although the writers do not label it as such). This makes me think that the authors also experience social phobia, giving them such a keen insight.

The most vivid example to me is the character described in Fyodor Dostoyevski's short novel "Notes from the Underground." Many other of Dosoyevski's characters also have major social anxiety.

What do you think? Have you encountered any other social phobics in fiction?

Reality · Guest

I'll have to check out "Love Shaped Story."

Another book about a man with with social phobia falling in love is "A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else" by Ursula Le Guin.

Also, although there are no social phobics in "O Pioneers!" by author Willa Cather, the book has some very insightful descriptions of the emotions that socially-self conscious people have.

By the way, the book "Notes from the Underground" is very unflattering and can be very disturbing, so you might not want to read it. Dostoyevski was probably a social phobic, and he told it like it is.