> Endings like in one of Thomas Disch's novelettes, where aliens plow
> up the earth, and harvest everything, including whatever humans are
> left alive, just leave me depressed.

Hey, those are the *upbeat* endings in Disch's novel(ette)s!

Anyway I have to admit that there is a perverse fascination (and
satisfaction) both in up- and downbeat endings.

The answer to your question:  "Who needs it?" can in any case only
be:  "It depends on what comes before that ending, and on what you're
looking for".

Umberto Rossi

"A commission is appointed
To confer with a Volscian commission
About perpetual peace"--and nobody told me!