February 28, 2008
Philip M Parker’s Book Generator
Speaking of Scott Turner (author of Minstrel, a major subject of the EP chapter currently being discussed) he recently drew my attention to an article in the Guardian titled “Automatic writing.”
Philip M Parker, a professor of management science at Insead, the international business school based in Fontainebleau, France, patented what he calls a “method and apparatus for automated authoring and marketing”.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
This time you beat me to the post, Noah. This is a pretty hilarious concept, and I loved to see some of the titles posted on Amazon.com – from which the books are generated whenever necessary!
Webster’s Albanian to English Crossword Puzzles: Level 1.
The 2007 Import and Export Market for Ferrous Metal Waste and Scrap Excluding Waste and Scrap of Cast Iron and Alloy Steel in United Kingdom.
Also, check out the “genuine” reviews for one of Parker’s books and one that is tongue-in-cheek, funnier, and less of a sad commentary on Amazon’s reviewing system.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
This is great!
I love the line on the Amazon page, “Only 1 left in stock–order soon (more on the way)”
(As Nick mentioned, the Guardian article explains how the books are only generated when an order is received…)
Does anyone have a Philip M Parker book, or buying one? I’d love to browse through one, get a sense of the quality of the prose.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:29 am
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