Do You Remember Being Born?

Reviews

"Stunningly compelling." —The Walrus

"A charming and refreshingly non-dystopian meditation on the duality of literary creation." —The New York Times

"The definitive novel about art in the age of AI, one that incorporates machine-generated phrases and sentences in an unexpectedly moving way. . . . A novel about the value of writing must clear a very high stylistic bar to succeed, and Michaels produces some of the most beautiful sentences published this year." —WIRED

"Timely and lovely. . . . [A.I. is] a loud topic, but Michaels’s novel is quiet and thoughtful. Instead of a cliché ‘man versus machine’ struggle, Do You Remember Being Born? is an investigation of language and legacies both artistic and familial. . . . Michaels has a poet’s eye for detail and ear for fresh phasing. . . . Do You Remember Being Born? is a tender and moving character portrait full of sharp scenes and memorable observations. While the novel might have a timely premise, it’s a jumping-off point for timeless meditations on art, family, connection and the meaning of a life. These topics will always speak to us, at least until we’re replaced by the machines." —The New York Times

"With [Do You Remember Being Born?], Michaels tries to find a little bit of hope in the future we’re already in, suggesting that art can still remain in the hands of artists in the face of AI. . . . That Being Born is already being published is somewhat remarkable: Michaels began the book three years before ChatGPT’s public release, seeming to anticipate the world we’re now in. . . . Michaels’s own collaboration with AI is fascinating. . . . Being Born is wildly unique now, but it might be the forebear of a whole new genre of writing." —Josh O’Kane, via The Globe and Mail

"Michaels merges modernist poetry with contemporary technology in this inventive outing. . . . [Do You Remember Being Born? asks] probing and humane questions about what it means to be an artist." —Publishers Weekly

"An outstanding, day-bending novel. . . . an iridescent exploration of what it means to make art, and what it means to build a day, or a life, around it. . . . [Michaels’] shimmering, sunlit prose transports readers beyond the meaning of the words. . . . His sentences are syncopated and light, allowing details, nicknames, images and thoughts to sing." —Montreal Review of Books

"I was completely blown away by how much I loved this book. I was extremely skeptical that authors are going to find ways to incorporate AI into their writing that [aren't] extremely c  ringey or hokey, and Michaels managed to craft a beautiful book that I cannot recommend highly enough. I think now that he's done it, no one else should bother. Somehow, he managed to make an absolutely marvelous novel that incorporates AI-generated text." —Kate Knibbs, WIRED senior editor, on Gadget Lab

"Thoughtful, speculative, and human, Do You Remember Being Born? expounds upon the AI craze (or fear) that dominated 2023, despite being written quite a few years before now. . . . An insightful and optimistic deep-dive into a sector of innovation that’s sure to remain relevant for years to come." —Our Culture

"A compassionate and lyrical portrait of an artist whose craft is 'threatened' by emerging technology, the novel is an artfully constructed story about the sacrifices of making art, artistic collaboration and the nature of motherhood. . . . Do You Remember Being Born? far outshines its peers. . . . The prose is exceptional." —Boston Review

"Provocative. . . . A timely work reminiscent of Richard Powers' Galatea 2.2, Michaels' tale shows how AI can, paradoxically, stymie creation through its limitlessness and need for human guidance. This is also a compelling portrait of a tricorne-wearing poet famously dedicated to her craft." —Booklist

"Sean Michaels achieves an astonishing level of narrative, emotional and psychological density with his tightly focused novel Do You Remember Being Born? . . . Sentence by sentence, line by line, Michaels builds a beautiful structure with dizzying, surprising imagery, conjuring metaphors that will leave you with a smile and lingering questions. . . . A captivating success." —BookPage

"I couldn’t stop reading Sean Michaels’ timely, inventive and remarkably tender novel about a famous poet collaborating with an AI. It evades simple binaries about art and technology to tell a story about families, legacies and connection; most of all, it’s a love letter to language itself. What a dynamic and engrossing book!" —Alix Ohlin, author of Dual Citizens

"Could a novel be any timelier than Do You Remember Being Born? Wonderfully written, it makes you think, on every single page, of where it is we’re going as a species." —Douglas Coupland, artist and novelist

"This is a book about the choices we make: as poets, parents, people. At once a moving portrait of an artist and a brilliant exploration of the nature of consciousness, Do You Remember Being Born? invites readers to consider the various ways they navigate life under digital capitalism. Sean Michaels has carried the contemporary conversation around AI into a thoughtful new space, where 'one discovers in it, after all, a place for the genuine.'" —Heather Christle, author of The Crying Book

"Beautiful, wise, thought-provoking, and funny—Do You Remember Being Born? is the guiding light I have been waiting to follow through the confusion of what constitutes great art in these times. The answer? You are holding it in your hands." —Ceridwen Dovey, author of Life After Truth

"One isn’t sure whether Sean Michaels is a method actor or a magician. But a poet, he is not. And thank goodness, because here is a novelist of exacting candour whose gifts turn this book full of thorns about the chilling seduction of AI into a rich ride through what is imagined humane in art. You don’t pull off a fiction like this so hitchlessly unless you truly understand how poetry and truth can coexist, even in a world that threatens both. I almost reached in to hit the kill switch on that machine more than once. See for yourself whether or not you remember being born." —Canisia Lubrin, poet and author of Voodoo Hypothesis and The Dzygraphxst

"Sparkling and kinetic, Do You Remember Being Born? has a deeply generous spirit and a beguiling protagonist, the kind I want to follow forever. A remarkable book about the difficulty—the profundity, too—of making art and making a life." —Claire Luchette, author of Agatha of Little Neon

"Prescient and fascinating. . . . Rich and innovative.” —Foreword Reviews Expand reviews