Latest news with #BruceHolsinger
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Oprah's book club pick ‘Culpability' taps into our AI anxiety
Artificial intelligence is accelerating faster than a Tesla toward an oak tree. Every day brings a fresh story — possibly written by AI — about the wonders of a world remastered by autonomous billionaires and their silicon golems. Perplexity, indeed. Bruce Holsinger's novel 'Culpability,' about a deadly crash involving a self-driving vehicle, was originally slated for October, but Oprah just named it her July book club pick, so you can already find it parked in your local bookstore. Whatever the reason, that was a fortuitous rescheduling. When it comes to writing about artificial intelligence, three months is the distance between rubbing sticks together and splitting an atom.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Oprah says July book club pick hooked her 'until the very last shocking sentence'
Oprah Winfrey's latest book club selection is a high-octane family drama swirling with artificial intelligence ethics. 'Culpability' by Bruce Holsinger (out now from Spiegel & Grau) is the July pick for Oprah's Book Club, and the mogul is already dubbing it "the book of the summer." This is Winfrey's 116th book club selection, and Holsinger's novel joins a 2025 roster that includes Ocean Vuong, Wally Lamb and Tina Knowles. 'I appreciated the prescience of this story,' Winfrey said in a statement. 'It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding Artificial Intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!' 'Culpability' is set on a summer rental on the Chesapeake Bay and follows the Cassidy-Shaws – leading AI expert Lorelei, husband Noah, tweens Alice and Izzy and teenager Charlie – whose autonomous minivan collides with another car. Each family member has a secret that implicates them in the accident. Their weeklong stay is an unraveling of moral dilemmas, skeletons in the closet and AI consequences. In an announcement on her Instagram, Winfrey called 'Culpability' 'a book that's perfect for your beach bag.' 'Let me just tell you, Gayle King was so riveted that she was reading this book in the car on the way to the Tonys,' Winfrey said in a video. Holsinger is both a fiction and nonfiction writer, the author of five novels, including 'The Displacements' and 'The Gifted School.' He is also a professor at the University of Virginia. "Oprah Winfrey started her book club the same year I finished graduate school,' Holsinger said in a statement. 'For nearly thirty years, as I've taught great books to college students in the classroom and the lecture hall, she has shared great books with the world. Her phone call was like a thunderbolt, and I'll never forget it. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that she found Culpability worthy of her time, praise, and recognition." Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oprah's July book club pick 'Culpability': 'Riveting' family drama
CBS News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Oprah Winfrey calls her latest book club pick "Culpability" the must-read of the summer
Oprah Winfrey picked "Culpability" by Bruce Holsinger as her latest book club selection. Winfrey said the novel explores artificial intelligence and moral responsibility, topics many are currently grappling with. "I picked it because it is so prescient. It is prescient. It is right now. And it is also the future," Winfrey said. "If you were looking for the summer read, this is it, " she said. The timing of her selection felt especially relevant after Winfrey attended an event that featured demonstrations of self-driving cars. "I had just been to one of those tech conferences, and I had seen a demonstration of Waymo—the driverless cars, self-driving cars," she said. The novel examines themes of accountability in the age of AI through the story of a family whose self-driving minivan crashes into an oncoming car, killing an elderly couple. Winfrey described the central characters as "a typical great American family." "What happens to the family in 'Culpability' could be any family," she said. Author Bruce Holsinger said he wrote the book to explore how artificial intelligence affects people's sense of moral responsibility and autonomy in daily life. Holsinger recalled the moment he got Winfrey's call about the book. "I pick up the phone, and, um, I hear this voice, and it says, 'Bruce.' And I said, 'Yes.' And she says, 'It's Oprah.' And I—first of all, I thought it was AI-generated." He said he intentionally used shorter chapters to keep the story suspenseful. Winfrey agreed the structure works well: "Because you're feeling so accomplished. Another chapter." She also warned readers not to skip ahead. "Do not under any circumstances cut to the end. Because the end is gonna shock you no matter what," Winfrey said.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Oprah Winfrey's latest book club pick, 'Culpability,' delves into AI ethics
Oprah Winfrey has chosen a novel with a timely theme for her latest book club pick. Bruce Holsinger's 'Culpability' is a family drama that probes the morals and ethics of AI. 'I appreciated the prescience of this story,' Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday, the day of the novel's publication. 'It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding Artificial Intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!' Holsinger, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, is the author of four previous novels and several works of nonfiction. He said in a statement that he had admired Winfrey's book club since its founding in 1996. 'Oprah Winfrey started her book club the same year I finished graduate school,' Holsinger said. 'For nearly 30 years, as I've taught great books to college students in the classroom and the lecture hall, she has shared great books with the world. Her phone call was like a thunderbolt, and I'll never forget it. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that she found 'Culpability' worthy of her time, praise, and recognition.' Tuesday's announcement continues Winfrey's book club partnership with Starbucks. Her interview with Holsinger, held recently at a Starbucks in Seattle, can be seen on Winfrey's YouTube channel or through other podcast outlets. List of Winfrey's last 10 Oprah's Book Club selections June 2025: 'The River is Waiting,' by Wally Lamb (Read AP's review.) May 2025: 'The Emperor of Gladness,' by Ocean Vuong (Read AP's review.) April 2025: 'Matriarch,' by Tina Knowles (Read and watch AP's interview with Knowles.) March 2025: 'The Tell,' by Amy Griffin February 2025: 'Dream State,' by Eric Puchner January 2025: 'A New Earth,' by Eckhart Tolles (Winfrey has picked this book twice.) December 2024: 'Small Things Like These,' by Claire Keegan (Read AP's review.) October 2024: 'From Here to the Great Unknown,' by Lisa Maria Presley and Riley Keough. (Read AP's story about how Keough completed the book. September 2024: 'Tell Me Everything,' by Elizabeth Strout (Read AP's review.) June 2024: 'Familiaris,' by David Wroblewski.
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Oprah Winfrey's latest book club pick, 'Culpability,' delves into AI ethics
NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey has chosen a novel with a timely theme for her latest book club pick. Bruce Holsinger's 'Culpability' is a family drama that probes the morals and ethics of AI. 'I appreciated the prescience of this story,' Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday, the day of the novel's publication. 'It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding Artificial Intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!'
