The amount of fiction people read seems to be a better predictor of language ability than nonfiction, research finds. And, perhaps even more importantly, research has found that fiction is linked to better social cognition and an increased understanding of the world as a complex place. - Washington Post
Either human speech and AI speech progressively assimilate, causing a collapse in any meaningful distinction, or language becomes a contested social signal. This second scenario would essentially be a game of whack-a-mole across the English language. - Washington Post
Matt Dinan, of St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, had somehow never read the Dostoevsky classic before last semester. He found himself completely consumed by the novel — and then found his students equally taken with it. The reasons they gave for being so excited were telling. - The New York Times
I call this point in a novel its volta. The term comes from poetry, where it denotes a shift that sonnets exhibit between their opening octave and concluding sestet or between their first 12 lines and final couplet. - Public Books
The spectacular implosions of big book deals over suspected AI use—and fears about who might be next—are forcing a reckoning over the nature of authorship, the relationship between writers and publishers and the industry’s long-term survival. - The Wall Street Journal
The booksellers are wondering how they’re supposed to feel. Tey’re "are “uncomfortable with the idea of books being destroyed - even if they admit not every title needs to be saved.” - BBC
From the editors: “Rather than translating existing work from The Rumpus, El Alboroto will commission and publish original Spanish-language writing spanning cultural criticism, personal essays, interviews, fiction, poetry and comics.” - LitHub
“You can still type a symbol originally invented for Cicero nearly 21 centuries ago — at least if you configure your keyboard properly.” - Open Culture
“Among the experts (291 editors, booksellers, librarians, book lovers and crime authors), four of French’s books made it to a list of the 50 best thrillers of the 21st century” - more than any other writer’s books. - Irish Times
“Until AI, there has been the expectation that no matter what is written in a book, It authored by a person, or people. There needs to be new terms in the social contract between reader and writer.” - Christian Science Monitor
Yes, Americans read less than they did forty years ago—not surprising, considering how many other forms of entertainment and information are competing for our time and attention. But does this spell decline or diversification? - The Bulwark
