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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Authors Publish Empty Book in Protest of AI
As the UK prepares to assess the cost of proposed changes to copyright law next week, 10,000 writers have collaborated to publish a book protesting the unauthorized use of their work to feed AI models. The brainchild of composer and activist Ed Newton-Rex, Don’t Steal This Book is empty except for a list of the participating authors’ names. Advocates will be distributing 1,000 copies during this week’s London Book Fair to generate awareness and pressure officials to “protect the UK’s creatives, and refuse to legalise the theft of creative work by AI companies.” May their efforts succeed.
The Remarkably Bright Creatures Trailer is Here
Making an octopus the narrator of your novel is either genius or terrible, and it’s an even trickier proposition for a movie. More than a million readers agree that Shelby Van Pelt pulled it off in the beloved bestseller Remarkably Bright Creatures, and if anyone can make it work on film, it’s Alfred Mollina and Sally Field. Mollina provides the voice for Marcellus, the giant Pacific octopus at the center of the story in the upcoming Netflix adaptation, opposite Field’s Tova, a widow who forms an unexpected bond with the creature. What a sentence that is! What a strange time we live in when an Oscar-winning actress and highly acclaimed actor star in a streaming adaptation of a book club hit narrated by a sea creature. Not a bad thing, just wow, what a thing.
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The Juiciest Bits from Liza Minnelli’s Memoir
If, like me, you find yourself familiar enough with Liza Minnelli to be interested in her new memoir but not enthusiastic enough to commit to 448 pages (or 17 hours on audio!), this is for you. People‘s Carly Tagen-Dye has collected the book’s biggest bombshells and juiciest gossip.
The Book Thief at 20
Book Riot senior editor Kelly Jensen chats with Markus Zusak as his blockbuster YA novel turns 20.