Please Scream Inside Your Heart: Breaking News and Nervous Breakdowns in the Year That Wouldn’t End

“If news is a drug, I’m the world’s foremost user,” claims NextDraft newsletter publisher Pell in this witty if hectic rehash of 2020. Drawing on news stories from around the world, Pell reminds readers that the first “viral video” of the year featured Pope Francis slapping a devotee on the wrist; recounts the postponement of the NBA season on March 11 (“Out of nowhere, we were confronted by a new rule of thumb. Every gathering is a clusterfuck”); and spotlights President Trump’s falsehoods about Covid-19, Black Lives Matter protestors, voter fraud, climate change, and Joe Biden’s role in covering up the “fake death” of Osama bin Laden. Pell also reflects on the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and paints a touching portrait of his father, who fought with the Polish resistance against the Nazis (he was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust) and built a real estate empire in Northern California before dying in December 2020 at age 96. Though the book’s frenzied pace can be exhausting, Pell’s family stories are lucid and heartwarming. Fans of Nextdraft and news junkies with an appreciation for the absurd will savor Pell’s ability to find humor and hope in a year of chaos. (Nov.)