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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.
James Patterson to Co-Author Book on Luigi Mangione
James Patterson writes books like streamers produce shows on whatever was in the headlines yesterday. In the latest news, Patterson is once again teaming up with investigative reporter Vicky Ward to write what will surely be another bestseller, this time about Luigi Mangione. Patterson and Ward previously co-authored an instant bestseller about “The Idaho Four,” the University of Idaho students fatally stabbed by Bryan Kohberger. Mangione rose to notoriety as the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The Ivy League grad has been both celebrated and condemned as the fatal shooting spurred heated conversation about systemic faults in the U.S. healthcare system. In a release from Little, Brown and Company about their upcoming title, the publisher announced that the “new book will be propelled by hundreds of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts, and SEC filings to take this story beyond the headlines.” There are so many directions one could take with this story, and if it’s any kind of preview, this is what Ward said of it: “This story touches all of us. It goes to the heart of the social, cultural and political issues dividing the US right now. Nothing is more of a reviled black box than the health insurance industry, and it’s time to open it up, through a crime that has caught the attention of the country.”
This Fall’s Must-Watch Adaptations
We all got a chance to witness two hours of Ralph Fiennes’ nasal breathing work in the Conclave adaptation, and this fall offers a lineup featuring even more high quality book-inspired films. The adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet is the big one, in my opinion. I absolutely loved director Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Jessica Bruder’s Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century and if anyone can do justice to this bleak reader favorite about the death of Agnes and William Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son, Hamnet, I have to believe it’s Zhao. In more adaption news, I agree with David Canfield, writing for Vanity Fair, that “it feels like [Guillermo del Toro has] been working up to his Frankenstein movie his whole career.” It’s sure to be a showstopper and a feat of studio effects. You can find the full lineup here.
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Speaking of Adaptions!
Millennial PSA! Alicia Silverstone spoke with TODAY about a Clueless series in the works. She’ll be reprising her role as Cher Horowitz for a Peacock show based on the Emma-inspired ’90s classic. TIL that a Clueless series was previously attempted and ran for three seasons in the ’90s. Based on Silverstone’s reprisal and the drop of tea she spilled that “The goal is to make [the series] honor what everyone loves about ‘Clueless’ and Cher,” my guess is that the new show will follow a grown-up Cher who continues to meddle and display a weakness for the finer things in life.
The Lie of “Local Control,” as Texas and Florida Signal What’s Next in Book Censorship
At Book Riot, Kelly Jensen shares urgent words about the lie of local control:
The new tactics being employed to censor books should serve to highlight what is to come in other states in the coming years. What we’ve already seen in terms of quiet censorship, the chilling effect, and the blatant lies about laws intending to return local control to public schools are only going to amplify. Florida and Texas officials are providing the roadmap.
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