Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Christie Estate Authorizes AI Deepfake of The Queen of Crime to Teach a Class on Writing
I don’t think so, folks. I am not a never-AI person, and neither am I a “yea do it all” AI maximalist. So I tend to judge use by use and project by project, and this fits squarely in the….I just don’t want this. It looks to have been with as much care and attention as could be applied, but having reality-grade versions of real people say and do things that they didn’t say or do like that doesn’t strike me as cool or fun or even especially interesting. Que Ian Malcolm.
New Snape Signs Letter in Support of Trans Rights
Just a few days after John Lithgow expressed amazement that anyone might wonder if supporting J.K. Rowling’s work tacitly (at least) also means tolerating (at least) her views on trans people, Paape Essiedu, who has been cast as Severus Snape in HBO’s new production, joined hundreds of others in signing an open letter to the film and television industry supporting the rights and identity of trans people and rebuking the UK Supreme Court’s April 17th decision. I hope the producers and powers that be, at the very least, allow cast members to express their views on the matter. Not only is it the right thing to do, but any pressure to soften or silence gestures like this will spark a real backlash (one that I think might happen anyway).
Dracula Daily Returns!
Dracula Daily is one of the pure wins of the recent-ish internet. A good, simple idea executed simply and well. And people have responded. If you didn’t get aboard previously, you can get Dracula sent to you in daily (ish) emails that follow the dates of Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel. Vampires are immortal and I hope Dracula Daily sticks around for a long time as well.
The 8 Most Underrated Horror Books
If it were not for #romantasy, horror’s emergence as a sales and acclaim dynamo would be the biggest story in books. This makes is a terrific time to check out some horror books that a ripe for rediscovery.
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