Welcome to Issue 190 of Total Annarchy, a fortnightly newsletter by me, Ann Handley, with a focus on writing, marketing, living your best life. Was this email forwarded to you? You can subscribe here.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

What. A. Week. Full of things both dumb and dumbfounding.

DUMB: A new MIT study says ChatGPT is making us stupider.

A bunch of you sent that story to me—because of course you did. I'm not anti-AI; but I do believe we need to use it thoughtfully. So any research that shows how AI's productivity gains come at a cost makes my ears perk up like a spaniel hearing the treat jar.

The study is small and preliminary and a bit flawed. But it's sparking a conversation: Are we trading long-term thinking for short-term speed?

And shouldn't we be more intentional about how (and when) we use AI—instead of sprinting toward it like a biscuit-crazed spaniel?

DUMBFOUNDING: A few days later, a US judge ruled that Anthropic's use of books to train its AI system Claude did not violate copyright law, finding it qualified as "fair use." My genius friend and attorney Ruth Carter broke it down for me. (Shortly after, Meta won a similar case.)

The judge in the Anthropic case likened the AI's training process to an aspiring writer's learning from others' work to create something new, not to copy or replace it—which, uh, okay.

I get how the judge is using analogy to explain a ruling. But I bristle at the comparison of a robot's cool output to an aspiring writer's bloody, sweat-stained work.

SIR. Must we?

Generative AI can be helpful and useful and fun. 

But some days, it's hard not to be dumbfounded about what comes next—especially for artists and creatives.

At least the judge agreed that stealing the books wasn't cool. (We talked about the piracy issue here.)

* * *

I'm still processing all this. But for now, I have a suggestion: 

Step away from the Internet and go read a book.

Read something new. Or new to you. Read fiction, nonfiction, essays, biography. Read on paper or Kindle. Something serious and important. Or light and fluffy. Your choice. 

I don't know how the AI story ends. But if there's an antidote to the shortcuts and short-termism the world is urging you to take... I'm betting on the slowest, smartest act of resistance left: reading a book. 

No algorithm stands a chance of outwitting a well-read, well-fed mind.

Or out-writing one. The second edition of Everybody Writes is on sale this week. 

Here's my challenge to you:

📚 30 minutes a day.
📚 For the next 8 weeks.
📚 Just read.

Deal?

* * *

Here's what's on my list this summer. 

These are all fiction as well as memoir/biography. Should I also recommend some business-related books in a future letter? Hit reply and let me know.

I'm including Bookshop.org links because Amazon is convenient as heck but local bookstores need you more.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I'm a TJR fan. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was one of my fave novels from last year. (Here's why I liked it.) My expectations are rocket-booster high for this historical novel about female astronauts breaking barriers at NASA.

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

Ann Patchett recommended this novel about a reclusive journalist suddenly thrown into a wild, suspenseful journey to rescue his kidnapped grandchildren.

Some days, I, too, would love to be a reclusive journalist—so immediately I was intrigued. Then my friend Ahava texted this one to me and said:

"Wanna do a book club of two?"

"Yes," I said.

 I'll keep you posted.

Educated by Tara Westover

I've already read this one, but I can't shut up about it. 

It's a memoir about how Tara—raised by fringe conspiracy theorists who didn't trust schools or hospitals or much of modern life—eventually leaves her dad's junkyard and earns a PhD from Cambridge University. (There's a lot to unpack in that sentence, isn't there lol.) 

Her story is a sharper version of a truth we all face eventually: the moment you realize your parents are simply people—with flaws, limitations, and their own blind spots.

It's the kind of story that could feel salacious and voyeuristic. But it's not.

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie

We walked into a new bookstore-slash-smoothie place that opened in town. And while we were waiting for a Very Berry Açaí Bowl (no honey), the bookstore/smoothie owner recommended this book.

"If you like strong female friendships and you root for the underdog and like a story set in a Franco-American section of Maine... you'll love this," Lisa said.

Friendships. Underdogs. My mother's side is from Quebec. SOLD.

"It's the best book I read since Demon Copperhead," Lisa added as she was ringing me up. If I wasn't already buying it, I would have bought it again.

Toni at Random by Dana A. Williams

I had no idea that the iconic writer was also a visionary editor. I had no idea that in her role as editor she helped shape an important period in American publishing and literature. 

Plus, I love a book with old-school editing markups on the cover. A bit of a trope? Maybe. But it tells a story. As a book cover should.

How to Lose Your Mother by Molly Jung-Fast

Molly is a political commentator, podcast host, and the only child of the famous writer Erica Jong, whose feminist novel Fear of Flying was everywhere in the 1970s.

My parents had a copy. I opened it once, saw the word fck*, and dropped it like it burned me.

Not because I didn't know the word—but because I didn't know they did. My parents were reserved and traditional, and it felt wrong to be standing on the wall-to-wall carpeting in my childhood living room discovering the book there. Like I'd stumbled into a secret I shouldn't know. 

Or didn't want to? This was before I understood that my parents, too, were simply people.

Anyway... Molly. The memoir dives into the tangled mother-daughter dynamic and the chaos of growing up with a fame-hungry parent.

Also I just realized I must be on a memoir kick.

Beowulf, a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley

Are you kidding, you're thinking. 

BEOWULF?! The ancient epic poem that both bored and tormented me in high school?

Stay with me.

This is an incredible translation of the epic poem that brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English. Some people call it "radical," but to me it's less radical than it is nuanced.

It challenges the "monster bad/hero good" binary narrative in favor of something more complex. 

The reframe feels both modern and needed in 2025: Justice is rarely served. Dragons live among us. And sometimes we confuse who is truly monstrous... and who is not.

Listen to the audiobook instead of reading this one. I listened first THEN bought a print copy, as a souvenir of the experience. I loved it that much.

So, yeah, I technically read this one already, too.

Honorable mentions:

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World by Irene Vallejo, translated by Charlotte Whittle

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

The original content pirates?

Thanks for reading this far.

Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

🫡 See you July 13!

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