Briefly Noted

The Trouble with Reality, by Brooke Gladstone (Workman). This brisk piece of media criticism, by the host of WNYC’s “On the Media,” draws on philosophy and literature to show the extent to which the American press has been ill-equipped to deal with a major political figure—Donald Trump—who creates a parallel reality rather than working within the realm of consensus. The book’s main concern isn’t dishing out platitudes but providing a battle plan for individuals anxiously “watching the edifice of reality collapse.” Instead of “spiking your cortisol levels” by dwelling on President Trump’s tweets or on the Administration’s “ceaseless cascade of lies,” Gladstone recommends protest and “preserving your outrage,” because, ultimately, “facts are real and will reassert themselves eventually.”