All right. I have, in my possession, a copy of Patrick DeWitt's new novel: Dodge City. The description sounded so fun! I'll let Y'all know what I thought of it when I finish. It's under 250 pages, with (and I'm thrilled with this) unusually large print for a standard book, so it should go quickly. ❤️📚❤️
books
How cultural background shapes our perception of dance
A study by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics reveals that cultural background shapes how people interpret emotions, beauty, and meaning when watching dance.
by Ina Wittmann
https://phys.org/news/2026-10-cultural-background-perception.html
A dance of emotions: Scientific video library of dance movements published:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-emotions-scientific-video-library-movements.html
Books about Dance at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/7959
#books #
DODGE CITY, by Patrick deWitt.
This a very easy reading story, similar to the Sisters Brothers in terms of humor and wit, but this novel has none of that novel's biting, satirical dark edges. You may wonder what the book is about, even while you're reading it. I think it's about what we owe: to our family, our friends, our romantic partners, our country, and ultimately: to ourselves. That's the real journey the MC takes, while he traverses the country to figure out the answers to those questions, and to reject having them answered for him.
It's written as if it's unfolding, but has the definite feel of reminiscence, looking back at how we got to where we are now. It's reflective, funny, earnest, and at times tender with the discovery of the various ways in which we all disappoint each other, and the grace that can arise from those realizations. 4/5 stars.
Bestselling Novelist Dropped from Major Prize over Suspected AI Use [based on controversial AI-detection software] | The Walrus
cross-posted from: piefed.ca/…/bestselling-novelist-dropped-from-maj…
The Thélyson Orélien controversy raises new questions about whether detection software can be trusted
A lot of people here might already be aware of how AI checkers are unreliable at best, and more often just terrible. What I learned from this article is that they might actually harm some groups of people more than others.
NOTE: The original title of this article was “Bestselling Novelist Dropped from Major Prize over Suspected AI Use”. I added the extra context because people might not read the body of the post.
Here are some excerpts that I thought were relevant, with bold emphasis applied by me. Please check out the full article if you want more context outside of what I am highlighting here:
This time, the controversy surrounds C’était ça ou mourir, the first novel by Haitian Canadian author Thélyson Orélien, which has already become a huge success in France. On September 26, the prestigious Académie Goncourt announced it was dropping the title from the longlist for its eponymous literary prize because the prize administrators had concluded it was written with the help of AI. The AI-detection software Pangram determined there was a 100 percent chance the novel was at least in part AI generated.
The author denies using AI, and his French publisher, Grasset, has come out strongly in his defence. Grasset said in a statement that it “strongly objected” to the allegations, which it characterized as “malicious.” The Globe and Mail quoted the French publisher as calling the accusations against Orélien “fake news.” His original French-language Canadian publisher, by contrast, has taken a more measured response to the allegations. The Quebec publisher, Les Éditions du Boréal, told the New York Times, “[A]t this stage, it is impossible for us to confirm or deny the allegations the author is facing.” They went on to say that it is important “not to draw hasty conclusions.”
This is not the first time an award-nominated author has faced accusations of using AI to create written work. Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize encountered criticism after Jamir Nazir’s regional winner, “The Serpent in the Grove,” was accused by social media users of having been written with AI. After a review that included interviews with all the regional winners and examinations of early drafts, edits, and time-stamped emails, the organization that runs the award decided there was no basis to believe Nazir used AI in his writing. The story went on to win the overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
The issue of false positives is not incidental: somewhere around 90 percent of the texts used to train large language models are in English, so the French language would throw up difficulties for AI checkers, which themselves use AI to make their determinations. In addition, Orélien is Haitian by background and employs a style of writing heavily influenced by Caribbean oral tradition, which relies on repetition and other tropes often cited as determinants of AI assistance. “I come from a Haitian and Caribbean literary tradition in which poetry, imagery, repetition, and rhythm carry a living voice,” he said in a statement quoted by the CBC. “One might debate my style, but treating its techniques as evidence of artificial intelligence has nothing to do with literary criticism.”
Sutherland, who, like Orélien, is Black, made a similar observation to the Globe about her award-winning story. “This story is rooted in Vincentian oral storytelling tradition, which by nature is formulaic and relies on repetition, rhythm, and patterned language as core elements of their structure,” she said.
The biases and blind spots in AI-detection software are only one issue. Equally troubling is the notion of using AI to detect AI use, an apparent tautology that doesn’t have many safeguards or levels of verifiability. Then there are the people using the software themselves. The accusations against Orélien arose via an anonymous X account run in part by Samuel Fitoussi, a journalist at the right-wing newspaper Le Figaro. His stated reason for using the account to publicize his accusation, according to the New York Times, is that “he thought an anonymous account would be trusted more than his column in a right-leaning newspaper.” Fitoussi may be correct about that, if only because the French right wing has become increasingly antipathetic to immigrant communities in the country.
Page
· lemmy.dbzer0.com
cross-posted from: piefed.ca/…/bestselling-novelist-dropped-from-maj…
The Thélyson Orélien controversy raises new questions about whether detection software can be trusted
A lot of people here might already be aware of how AI checkers are unreliable at best, and more often just terrible. What I learned from this article is that they might actually harm some groups of people more than others.
NOTE: The original title of this article was “Bestselling Novelist Dropped from Major Prize over Suspected AI Use”. I added the extra context because people might not read the body of the post.
Here are some excerpts that I thought were relevant, with bold emphasis applied by me. Please check out the full article if you want more context outside of what I am highlighting here:
This time, the controversy surrounds C’était ça ou mourir, the first novel by Haitian Canadian author Thélyson Orélien, which has already become a huge success in France. On September 26, the prestigious Académie Goncourt announced it was dropping the title from the longlist for its eponymous literary prize because the prize administrators had concluded it was written with the help of AI. The AI-detection software Pangram determined there was a 100 percent chance the novel was at least in part AI generated.
The author denies using AI, and his French publisher, Grasset, has come out strongly in his defence. Grasset said in a statement that it “strongly objected” to the allegations, which it characterized as “malicious.” The Globe and Mail quoted the French publisher as calling the accusations against Orélien “fake news.” His original French-language Canadian publisher, by contrast, has taken a more measured response to the allegations. The Quebec publisher, Les Éditions du Boréal, told the New York Times, “[A]t this stage, it is impossible for us to confirm or deny the allegations the author is facing.” They went on to say that it is important “not to draw hasty conclusions.”
This is not the first time an award-nominated author has faced accusations of using AI to create written work. Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize encountered criticism after Jamir Nazir’s regional winner, “The Serpent in the Grove,” was accused by social media users of having been written with AI. After a review that included interviews with all the regional winners and examinations of early drafts, edits, and time-stamped emails, the organization that runs the award decided there was no basis to believe Nazir used AI in his writing. The story went on to win the overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
The issue of false positives is not incidental: somewhere around 90 percent of the texts used to train large language models are in English, so the French language would throw up difficulties for AI checkers, which themselves use AI to make their determinations. In addition, Orélien is Haitian by background and employs a style of writing heavily influenced by Caribbean oral tradition, which relies on repetition and other tropes often cited as determinants of AI assistance. “I come from a Haitian and Caribbean literary tradition in which poetry, imagery, repetition, and rhythm carry a living voice,” he said in a statement quoted by the CBC. “One might debate my style, but treating its techniques as evidence of artificial intelligence has nothing to do with literary criticism.”
Sutherland, who, like Orélien, is Black, made a similar observation to the Globe about her award-winning story. “This story is rooted in Vincentian oral storytelling tradition, which by nature is formulaic and relies on repetition, rhythm, and patterned language as core elements of their structure,” she said.
The biases and blind spots in AI-detection software are only one issue. Equally troubling is the notion of using AI to detect AI use, an apparent tautology that doesn’t have many safeguards or levels of verifiability. Then there are the people using the software themselves. The accusations against Orélien arose via an anonymous X account run in part by Samuel Fitoussi, a journalist at the right-wing newspaper Le Figaro. His stated reason for using the account to publicize his accusation, according to the New York Times, is that “he thought an anonymous account would be trusted more than his column in a right-leaning newspaper.” Fitoussi may be correct about that, if only because the French right wing has become increasingly antipathetic to immigrant communities in the country.
Bestselling Novelist Dropped from Major Prize over Suspected AI Use [based on controversial AI-detection software] | The Walrus
The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series is a sweeping 19th-century Irish family saga. Follow Will and Isobel through struggles, secrets, and choices that test their love and loyalty in a changing Ireland.
Amazon - https://mybook.to/FitzgeraldsSeries
Other Retailers - https://lornapeel.com/fitzgeralds/a-scarlet-woman
#TheFitzgeraldsOfDublinSeries #Books #BooksByLornaPeel #FamilySaga #HistoricalFiction #Ireland #BookSeries #KindleUnlimited @bookstodon
📚 Animal Farm by: George Orwell
This is a classic tale of humanity awash in totalitarianism. A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. First published during the epoch of Stalinist Russia, today it is clear that w...
https://bookblabla.com/book/animal-farm
#books #reading #libraries #literarycriticism #generalfiction #classics
Have You Read: Beautiful Darkness/Jolies Ténèbres?
Nature is a beautiful thing, but nature has never been caring. As humans, our entire history has seen our attempts to seperate ourselves from the reality of the natural world.
Perhaps then, we are not so different from the tiny people of Beautiful Darkness, written by Fabien Vehlmann, and wondrously illustrated in watercolour by the artist duo Kerascoët, Beautiful Darkness tells the story of a fairytale society, and their emergence into the real world, as their home; the decaying corpse of a little girl in the woods, begins to deteriorate, and the story of their survival in the aftermath.
At only 112 pages, primarily consisting of artwork, Beautiful Darkness is a great fit for a lazy evening, and my recommendation for you today. :)
Blurb attached:
Newly homeless, a group of fairies find themselves trying to adapt to their new life in the forest. As they dodge dangers from both without and within, optimistic Aurora steps forward to organize and help build a new community. Slowly, the world around them becomes more treacherous as petty rivalries and factions form.
Page
· piefed.blahaj.zone
Nature is a beautiful thing, but nature has never been caring. As humans, our entire history has seen our attempts to seperate ourselves from the reality of the natural world.
Perhaps then, we are not so different from the tiny people of Beautiful Darkness, written by Fabien Vehlmann, and wondrously illustrated in watercolour by the artist duo Kerascoët, Beautiful Darkness tells the story of a fairytale society, and their emergence into the real world, as their home; the decaying corpse of a little girl in the woods, begins to deteriorate, and the story of their survival in the aftermath.
At only 112 pages, primarily consisting of artwork, Beautiful Darkness is a great fit for a lazy evening, and my recommendation for you today. :)
Blurb attached:
Newly homeless, a group of fairies find themselves trying to adapt to their new life in the forest. As they dodge dangers from both without and within, optimistic Aurora steps forward to organize and help build a new community. Slowly, the world around them becomes more treacherous as petty rivalries and factions form.
Have You Read: Beautiful Darkness/Jolies Ténèbres?
Edited 15d ago
📚 Eros the Bittersweet by: Anne Carson
A book about romantic love, Eros the Bittersweet is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with, "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her," Carson examines her subject from numero...
https://bookblabla.com/book/eros-the-bittersweet
#books #reading #libraries #literarycriticism #subjectsthemes #general
In 19th-century Dublin, a disillusioned doctor and a fallen woman cross paths, sparking a forbidden love that defies society's judgments.
Amazon - https://mybook.to/ascarletwoman
Other Retailers - https://lornapeel.com/fitzgeralds/a-scarlet-woman
#BooksByLornaPeel #Books #Ireland #HistoricalRomance #BookSeries #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited #Bookstodon #Romance @bookstodon
📚 The Library at Mount Char by: Scott Hawkins
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.
After...
https://bookblabla.com/book/the-library-at-mount-char
#books #reading #libraries #fiction #fantasy #contemporaryfiction #horror #general
I wish this was talked about more in articles such as this, but these publishers are also taking your work and working out quiet training deals behind your back. Some Indie publishers are doing this too. Remember, publishing is not your friend, and indie publishers are still a business. If you have an agent, have them help protect you. https://www.wired.com/story/book-publishers-are-quietly-using-more-ai-staff-are-revolting/ #Books #Bookstodon
The Surprising Origin Story of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’
If it weren't for a 14th-century poem, we would never have had one of the world's most iconic sculptures.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-bites-rodin-the-thinker-dante-2802379
Books about Rodin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/25054
A new preview from The Millions of the books coming out over the next few months is always one I keep a sharp eye out for and their Autumn list is now up. A few of the books we can look forward to include: a biography of Anita Brookner by Hermione Lee, collections of short stories by George Gospodinov and Scholastique Mukasonga, Yiyun Li's 'Music Against the Night', a collection of short stories from poet Kimberly Blaeser, 'Dams' by Irene Solà, and a collection of pieces by newly-minted, Canadian Nobel Prize winner Anne Carson.
#books #TBR #reading @bookstodon
https://themillions.com/2026/10/the-millions-great-fall-2026-book-preview.html
Literary giants Joseph Conrad and John Galsworthy owed their friendship to Port Adelaide
By Daniel Keane
Books by Conrad & Galsworthy at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/125
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/850
The legend is so strong': The truth about Nicolas Flamel and the philosophers' stone
The myth of Nicolas and Pernelle Flamel, medieval Parisians said to have made gold with a 'philosopher's stone', sparked a centuries-long obsession. Now a new examination of Flamel's centuries-old will has shed a light on how the legend emerged.
By Sophie Hardach
Books about Flamel at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/42416
Mini, spoiler free review of *Shorefall*, by Robert Jackson Bennett [fantasy]
cross-posted from: lemmy.ca/post/72211462
Sequel to Foundryside, set in the same city in which inanimate objects can be "scrived” to somewhat change their structure or state (make a wooden door behave more like stone, or a sword behave like it’s moving much faster than it is). In the prior book we learned that this ability was learned from recovered fragments from a long gone civilization of "hierophants” who were masters of it. Here, Sancha and most of the main characters from the prior book have settled into a new life, but learn that someone is attempting to resurrect the original and greatest hierophant, who is likely to destroy their world. As with the first, I enjoyed this book. The world is interesting, the characters relatable, and the action kept the pages turning.
Page
· lemmy.ca
cross-posted from: lemmy.ca/post/72211462
Sequel to Foundryside, set in the same city in which inanimate objects can be "scrived” to somewhat change their structure or state (make a wooden door behave more like stone, or a sword behave like it’s moving much faster than it is). In the prior book we learned that this ability was learned from recovered fragments from a long gone civilization of "hierophants” who were masters of it. Here, Sancha and most of the main characters from the prior book have settled into a new life, but learn that someone is attempting to resurrect the original and greatest hierophant, who is likely to destroy their world. As with the first, I enjoyed this book. The world is interesting, the characters relatable, and the action kept the pages turning.
Mini, spoiler free review of *Shorefall*, by Robert Jackson Bennett [fantasy]
Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting
cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/68187610
According to interviews with more than two dozen workers, all of whom spoke under the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their employment, publishers are now using LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT to email literary agents, write publicity and back-cover copy, design cover art, and generate marketing materials, often at the direction of their executives.
At the same time, multiple editorial staffers say the widely publicized cases of authors accused of using LLMs to help write their books—like Hachette’s horror novel Shy Girl or Macmillan’s crime thriller Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body—are just the tip of the iceberg. “Every single imprint has a story of someone very esteemed who had a book canceled because of blatant AI use” without ever making the news, one editor says.
At HarperCollins senior leaders purchased Claude licenses from Anthropic months ago “but very quickly realized they didn’t know how to implement them,” according to a current employee. Dozens of junior- and senior-level staff were then “voluntold” to become “AI Champions” and were tasked with discovering use cases in monthly brainstorming sessions with staff across the company.
Page
· lemmy.dbzer0.com
cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/68187610
According to interviews with more than two dozen workers, all of whom spoke under the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their employment, publishers are now using LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT to email literary agents, write publicity and back-cover copy, design cover art, and generate marketing materials, often at the direction of their executives.
At the same time, multiple editorial staffers say the widely publicized cases of authors accused of using LLMs to help write their books—like Hachette’s horror novel Shy Girl or Macmillan’s crime thriller Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body—are just the tip of the iceberg. “Every single imprint has a story of someone very esteemed who had a book canceled because of blatant AI use” without ever making the news, one editor says.
At HarperCollins senior leaders purchased Claude licenses from Anthropic months ago “but very quickly realized they didn’t know how to implement them,” according to a current employee. Dozens of junior- and senior-level staff were then “voluntold” to become “AI Champions” and were tasked with discovering use cases in monthly brainstorming sessions with staff across the company.
Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting
#SpeakingOutOfPlace welcomes #LizaBlack to discuss her new book, #HowSettlersGetAwayWithMurder: The Killing of #IndigenousWomen and #TwoSpirit People in the Americas.
"Black not only delves into the often murky and incomplete archives of the state, but also assembles a new archive of #Indigenous voices, stories, photographs, images."
#MMIWG2S #MMIWG #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanWomen #IndigenousPeoplesDay #justice #books @bookstodon
Publishers Killed the Paperback, Then Blamed Readers
Page
· lemmy.dbzer0.com
Publishers Killed the Paperback, Then Blamed Readers
When Boys Stop Reading, Something Else Fills the Void
cross-posted from: lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/76856521
Page
· lemmy.dbzer0.com
cross-posted from: lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/76856521
When Boys Stop Reading, Something Else Fills the Void
Finished No Longer Human
I read it on Koreader in my Kobo Libra Colour, I will probably buy a hard cover copy to put on the shelf. Honestly the ending made me feel empty and sad. I won’t spoil, but it feels like there were many points where people could have helped the main character, but instead enabled him.
What are the thoughts of people who read it here?
Page
· lemmy.dbzer0.com
I read it on Koreader in my Kobo Libra Colour, I will probably buy a hard cover copy to put on the shelf. Honestly the ending made me feel empty and sad. I won’t spoil, but it feels like there were many points where people could have helped the main character, but instead enabled him.
What are the thoughts of people who read it here?
Finished No Longer Human
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/76858819
"Tackling child sexual abuse: Radical approaches to prevention, protection and support" by Sarah Nelson. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Published in 2016.
Book description: This book is intended to inspire policy makers, practitioners, academics and journalists to rediscover courage in tackling child sexual abuse. Sarah Nelson proposes new models for child-centered, perpetrator-focussed child protection, for community prevention, and for work with survivor-offenders.
I found this book to be an interesting and thought provoking read. Child sexual abuse is a serious societal ill, and the author focuses on being continually vigilant and being open to new and progressive tactics in dealing with its trauma.
@Priyajsridhar thanks for hosting #writephant today
We were talking about historical times today, and it’s also almost Halloween, so I will mention my two historical gay romances with supernatural elements
Grace & Favour
👻 A MC who talks to ghosts
❤️ Friends to lovers m/m romance
🏰 Set at Hampton Court Palace in the early Victorian
Rogue & Vagabond
💀 A burnt-out MC who keeps seeing creepy movement in bushes
❤️ One-night-stand to more m/m romance
🪨 Set at a manor house with a famous rockery in the late Victorian
Find out more, see content warnings and links to retailers on my website, including indie-direct in my bookshop:
#Australians, you can buy signed copies via my bookshop too
The Man Who Created a Written Language for the Cherokee Did It So Efficiently and Elegantly, His Peers Thought It Was Magic
Sequoyah’s syllabary faced suspicion initially, but after a demonstration, his version of “talking leaves” was widely embraced. And then the word spread
by Andrew Lawler
Books about Sequoyah and Cherokee Indians at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/1595
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/26692
"The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves."
Let's celebrate, today is Ada Lovelace Day!
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, was a pioneering mathematician. Known for creating the first machine algorithm for Babbage's Analytical Engine, she is widely celebrated as the first programmer.
Ada Lovelace at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/57832
