'This is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.' There seem to be innumerable subtle variations of the formula. There is also, no doubt, a way of determining which books require the disclaimer and which don't, but what the rule might be is a puzzle. Presumably, some novels don't need to defend themselves in this way because there's no chance of anyone mistaking any of the characters for real people or any of the events for things that might actually have happened.

LRB 5 February 2004 | PDF Download