Democrats resort to muffin therapy and ‘Trump survival guides’ for their postelection grief

A certain segment of the nation now suffers from “postelection grief,” inspiring one therapist to write an essay for National Public Radio suggesting that distraught people would benefit from baking muffins in the “sanctuary” of their kitchen. Jean Fain, a Harvard Medical School-affiliated psychotherapist, even supplied a “Hillary muffin” recipe that includes bananas, applesauce, oatmeal, hazelnuts and chocolate chips — noting that “muffin making as a meditative practice is a reliable source of comfort and hope.” Well, OK.

Now along comes Publishers Weekly, the major industry guide in the books realm, with a report that at least three major book publishers are now rushing out serious books to help Democrats cope with President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. And yes, one is actually called “The Trump Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Living Through What You Hoped Would Never Happen,” described by publisher HarperCollins as “a serious call to action for all anti-Trump dissenters,” and “people looking for answers.”

But there’s more, of course. “What We Do Now: Standing Up for Your Values in Trump’s America” from Penguin Random House features fancy essays from 27 well-known progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders andElizabeth Warren, feminist Gloria Steinem andNew York Times columnist Paul Krugman — all asked “to provide advice to people in their area of expertise on what they can do to voice their concerns over the next four years.”

A third offering for depressed Democrats is titled “Radical Hope” from Vintage Books, another anthology of essays from various authors and activists, deemed “an antidote to despair; a balm, a salve, a rallying cry, a lyrical manifesto, a power source, a torch to light the way.”

More