Six novels this month—two Brazilian, four from the European tradition—all concerned with what society does to people who fall outside its sanctioned arrangements. Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman (1891), Thomas Hardy Tess Durbeyfield is a farmer’s daughter whose family, learning of a distant, probably fictional connection to the ancient d’Urberville name, sends […]
Six Novels to Read in July 2026 Read More »
Why Does AI Writing Need Everything to Be Settled Before It Will Stop? This is Essay 22 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. There is
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: Resolution Anxiety Read More »
Why Does AI Writing Give Its Characters Lines Instead of Voices? This is Essay 21 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. There is a kind
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: The Borrowed Voice Read More »
Why Does AI Writing Give Its Characters Lines Instead of Voices? This is Essay 20 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. The Test There is
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: Dialogue That Reports Rather Than Reveals Read More »
Why Does AI Writing Produce Places That Could Be Anywhere? This is Essay 19 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. The Backdrop That Is Not
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: The Generic Setting Read More »
Why Does AI Prose Manufacture Tension It Has No Intention of Honoring? This is Essay 18 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. The Obstacle That Exists
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: Conflict Without Consequence Read More »
Why Does AI Prose Forget That People Have Bodies? This is Essay 17 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. The Sensory Void There is a kind
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: The Absent Body Read More »
Why Does AI Writing Shout When It Should Whisper? This is Essay 16 of 22 in the series Why Choose 100% Human Authors, addressed to readers who want to understand what a human author does that a machine cannot and why that difference matters to the experience of literary fiction. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Why Choose 100% Human Authors: Emotional Inflation Read More »
