Publishers may still be reeling from the economic earthquake, but that doesn’t mean they can’t see opportunity in all that rubble. This spring’s releases are split along the faultline: realist recession primers vs. escapist fantasies. Whether you prefer to dwell on the crisis of the moment or to float away on the wings of fiction, whether you sit transfixed before the analysts on CNBC or before the Housewives on Bravo, publishers have a prize for your doing what these exigent times make it difficult to do: surviving.

Catastrophe: The Story of Bernard L. Madoff, the Man Who Swindled the World by Deborah and Gerald Strober (Phoenix Books). In the mayhem of the meltdown, Madoff has become more than a madman. Now the great villain of our time, the fallen moneyman has been elevated to the level of cultural symbol, signifying the greed and nearly-unfathomable hubris of the men who let the market fall. In their new book, the Strobers win the race for the first book on the Ponzi Pirate—with eight more due out in the coming months. The book’s form offers a fitting irony: The story of the swindler is told by those whose pockets he picked, allowing the victims to pull back the curtain on his terrible wizardry. Though this volume won’t register as the definitive work on the meaning of Madoff, it’s a fine appetizer for the harder journalism of Erin Arvedlund and Richard Behar, and a nice indulgence for a readership growing angrier with each mention of AIG and each photo of Bernie’s grin.

While Madoff decorates his cozy cell, his wife should pick up The Ex-Mrs Hedgefund by Jill Kargman (Dutton). When the Gossip Girls grow up, they’ll be in a Jill Kargman novel. We know this because their parents already are. For those who like their fiction tethered firmly to reality (and grounded in a certain duo of Manhattan zipcodes), Kargman’s novel is delightful fare. The competitive gamesmanship surrounding schools, synagogues, and spouses will have readers-in-the-know chuckling and squirming at the mirror this novel holds up to the Upper East. Collapsing hedge funds lead to collapsing marriages, and sometimes the only therapy is to read and laugh.

If you’re hitting the punching bag at the gym a little harder these days, check out a better way to release that tension in Fight for Your Money: How to Stop Getting Ripped Off and Save a Fortune by David Bach (Broadway). You cannot govern with anger, our President proclaims, but Bach insists you sure can save some money with it, and feed your competitive spirit while doing it. With information surprising and tips surprisingly practical, and with a tone less didactic than ecstatic, this clever book compiles advice that’s less humiliating than coupon-cutting but just as easy. Bach knows his stuff, and he knows the power of sentimentality: a heavy dose of corporate villainy keeps you motivated, and an American love of the little guy makes every reader believe he can win.

While Mr. and Mrs. Everyman are struggling through a trying time, a few new books remind us that sometimes it’s therapeutic to look to the Economically Untouchable in La La Land. In Celebutards (Kensington), New York Post journalist Andrea Peyser hosts a glorious roast and a healthy rejection of the myth of the celebrity-turned-expert. From Madonna’s religiosity to Sean Penn’s foreign policy, Peyser fearlessly takes on the Napoleonic rich and famous, whose crowns of intellectual entitlement prompt them to pontificate. For conservatives on the run, this book is a joyful shaking of the fist at the Left Coast and an alert to Ann Coulter that she has a new rival—and it’s a woman on her own team. In Men Are Stupid and They Like Big Boobs (Pocket), Joan Rivers returns with her characteristic wit and dish, but this time in service of a larger (and enlarging) cause: plastic surgery. Arguing that plastic surgery is as necessary and as acceptable as make-up, the former red carpet royal regaler offers advice and confessions in a book that cameos celeb nip-and-tuckers. And if you’re thinking of escaping the pressure-cooker of Manhattan for the sun and sand of CA, The A-List Playbook: How to Survive Any Crisis While Remaining Wealthy, Famous, and Most Importantly, Skinny by Leslie Gornstein (Skyhorse), is your guide to making the transition in a style that will put you several letters above Kathy Griffin.

And finally, if the real world is just too much to bear, one fantastical novel shines this month, offering a story of love and loss that might heal a few recent wounds. Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story (Crown), by Carolyn Turgeon, remakes an ancient myth in Manhattan magic, and suggests the childhood tale might have contemporary relevance for a city haunted by a past tragedy and caught in present uncertainty. The delightfully quirky Fairy Godmother, now in exile in New York City, lives a quiet, austere life, making ends meet, making new friends, making love happen, while dreaming of the days she once could fly and hoping for the day she might again. These days, of course, that kind of longing seems quite familiar.

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