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From: weemba@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Matthew P. Wiener)
Newsgroups: net.rumor,net.books,net.ai
Subject: Re: Italo Calvino AI project
Message-ID: <13572@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 2-May-86 04:59:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.13572
Posted: Fri May  2 04:59:31 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 3-May-86 20:35:06 EDT
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Reply-To: weemba@brahms.UUCP (Matthew P. Wiener)
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Xref: watmath net.rumor:2114 net.books:3485 net.ai:3447

I've directed followups to net.books.

>   I must apologize to Bandy for posting a genuine rumor to net.rumor, but
>this is a real rumor I found on net.followup:
>
>>I have it on good authority (although second-hand) that an entire
>>*novel* was generated by computer. It was the result of a research
>>project which aimed to "parameterize" an author's writing style. The
>>study concentrated primarily on one author, Italo Calvino, and I have
>>heard that the novel, "If on a winter's night a traveller", was actually
>>published and marketed with Calvino's blessing.
>[Jack Orenstein]

Now this is an interesting rumor.  I suppose I should reread the book,
but I'll go on memory.

It's opening chapter struck me as one of the funniest things I have ever
read.  But it then wore down rather tiresomely.  I doubt if a computer
could have come up with the scheme of the book, the plot, or the opening
chapter.  But as for the rest?  The plotting was more stilted than usual
for Calvino--but I thought that was the point.  The joke was dragged out
longer than he usually does.  And it was his first novel in a decade.

Hmmm...  Let's just say I'm very incredulous.  Perhaps, more likely, the
*rumor* was generated with Calvino's blessing.

ucbvax!brahms!weemba	Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720