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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.
Tom Hanks To Headline Adaptation of Lincoln in the Bardo
On the one hand, it is not surprise to see Tom Hanks play a major historical figure from American history. And Abraham Lincoln is a favorite of actors to take on, with beautiful language and sideburns abounding. But this is not going to be an Abraham Lincoln story like you have seen it before. Saunders’ modern masterpiece is far stranger than any version of Lincoln you will likely have seen, or imagined possible. I don’t want to spoil too much here because what’s the fun in that, but I will highlight that Duke Johnson will be directing, whose best known directing credit to this point was the stop-motion Anomalisa, based on a Charlie Kaufman script. That should tell you something about what (not) to expect.
Taylor Sheridan to Co-Author Book About How to Survive in Prison. And It Will Be Funny. Supposedly.
I was never a Worst Case Scenario handbook kinda guy. Gallows humor is one thing, but trading off/making light of some truly nasty experiences that real people have…never saw the appeal. So I am clearly not the kind of person who will pick up Taylor Sheridan’s forthcoming How Not to Die in Prison: A Survival Guide. Sheridan has never done any time, but promises this will be darkly funny and authentic, as his co-writer, Tom Nelson spent more than a decade in prison. Can’t help but think that in a country with something like a functional penal system, this sort of book wouldn’t a) sell or b) even make any kind of sense.
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International Booker Prize Reveals 2026 Longlist
The Booker Prize released its longlist for the 2026 fiction prize today. Here are the finalists:
- The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin (Scribe)
- We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from Spanish by Robin Myers (New Directions)
- The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from Dutch by David McKay (New Vessel)
- The Deserters by Mathias Énard, translated from French by Charlotte Mandell (New Directions)
- Small Comfort by Ia Genberg, translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson
- She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel
- The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin (Summit)
- On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan (Charco, U.K. edition)
- The Duke by Matteo Melchiorre, translated from Italian by Antonella Lettieri (Foundry, U.K. edition)
- The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump (Vintage)
- Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh (Syracuse UP)
- The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken (New Directions)
- Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King (Graywolf)