The jolliest bunch Unhinged holiday stories

With a keen eye for nostalgia, Pellegrino focuses his second collection of essays (after How Do I Un-Remember This? 2022) on the holidays. From borrowing chairs from the local funeral home for a large family gathering to a road trip home with a deranged Sagittarius to the horrors of Black Friday in the 2000s to remixing Cher's "Just like Jesse James" as a holiday song for a retail job, Pellegrino's holiday misadventures will leave readers laughing at his festive audacity. There are some touching moments, too, like an ode to a longstanding and evolving friendship, the story of his mom missing his nativity debut, and a confession about his own disordered eating. He also takes a lighthearted look at his coming-out journey, from a novelization of the movie Now and Then getting tied up with masculinity and the Scholastic Book Fair to an unfortunate run-in with Jessica Simpson's (expired) lickable body lotion. Brief and punchy, these essays are perfect for readers who love the holidays and can laugh at the absurdity surrounding them.

Everything Iconic podcaster Pellegrino (How Do I Un-Remember This?) pairs holiday nostalgia with chaotic family antics in this amusing collection of Christmastime anecdotes. In addition to reminiscing about favorite holiday traditions, including trips to cheap photo studios to shoot ridiculous Christmas cards with his best friend (one depicts them eagerly unboxing a Blu-ray copy of Magic Mike), Pellegrino recounts one memorable mishap after another, from his mother's regular Christmas Eve meal prep meltdowns to accidentally setting his kitchen on fire with holiday candles. Throughout, Pellegrino adopts his pithy podcasting voice to reflect on seasonal retail playlists ("I love Céline Dion, she's a Canadian queen, but even a gay man will grow tired of her singing 'Oh Holy Night' for eight hours a day"), gimmicky cookie cutters ("IT HAS TO STOP"), and New Year's Eve ("Forced fun is never fun... I blame Y2K"). The tone is mostly frothy (emoji are sprinkled throughout), but a tender late chapter on the ways holidays have exacerbated Pellegrino's struggles with eating disorders adds welcome depth. This enjoyable and entertaining collection succeeds in its mission to make the season bright. Photos. Agent: Kristyn Keene, ICM Partners. (Oct.)