Book Selected For Fairfield's 'One Book One Town' Community Reading Initiative

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield Public Library and its community partners have selected Culpability by Bruce Holsinger as the 2026 title for the town’s One Book One Town community reading program.

Published by Spiegel & Grau in 2025, the novel centers on the Cassidy-Shaw family after an accident involving their autonomous minivan leaves them facing a police investigation and a series of ethical and personal questions tied to artificial intelligence and personal responsibility. The story follows the family during a weeklong stay on Chesapeake Bay as each member confronts secrets related to the crash.

The publisher writes, "Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones and other non-human forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative."

Culpability was an Oprah’s Book Club selection and was long-listed for the Aspen Words Literary Prize.

Holsinger is the author of three previous novels and several works of nonfiction. His writing has appeared in The New York Times and Vanity Fair, and he has been featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Here & Now and Marketplace. He teaches in the English Department at the University of Virginia and is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

The One Book One Town selection committee was co-chaired this year by Philip Bahr, head of adult services at Fairfield Public Library, and Jennifer Laseman, the library’s teen librarian.

"Culpability is equally a thriller, an emotional family drama, and an examination of our digital age," Bahr said in a statement. "Readers will find much to discuss in this novel, especially the increasingly ubiquitous presence of AI in our news and lives. Culpability is a perfect fit for this year’s OBOT selection."

A companion title for middle-grade readers, ages 8 to 12, will be The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Published in 2022, the novel is set in a future where wealthy families send their children to a school secretly populated by android students. The story follows Josie, a human girl posing as an android, and her friendship with a wealthy student named Max.

Fairfield’s One Book One Town program began in 2008 and is modeled on a concept developed by librarian and author Nancy Pearl, who promoted the idea of a community reading a single book at the same time. The local program is coordinated by Fairfield Public Library in partnership with community organizations including Experience Fairfield, the Fairfield Museum & History Center, Fairfield Public Schools, Fairfield University, the Friends of Fairfield Public Library, the Pequot Library, Sacred Heart University, the SHU Community Theater and WSHU Radio.

Copies of Culpability and The School for Whatnots will be available in print, e-book and audiobook formats at Fairfield Public Library’s two locations and at the Pequot Library, and for purchase through local bookstores.

Holsinger is scheduled to speak at the Sacred Heart University Community Theater in Fairfield at 7 p.m. on March 4. Registration for the event opens Feb. 2.

The One Book One Town program and its related events are supported by the Friends of Fairfield Public Library.