Hacker News with Generative AI: Authors

Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, and the Computer (2009) (realitystudio.org)
On Christmas Day, 1990, Charles Bukowski received a Macintosh IIsi computer and a laser printer from his wife, Linda.

Literature, Authors, Technology, History

91 points by zdw 14 days ago | 22 comments

No! Repent! From! Harlan! (1998) (harlanellison.com)
A fair review of Harlan Ellison's credentials would take more wordage than allowed for this entire interview.

Science Fiction, Authors, Literature

26 points by Michelangelo11 18 days ago | 6 comments

China Miéville says we shouldn't blame science fiction for its bad readers (techcrunch.com)
It’s been 25 years since China Miéville stepped into the literary spotlight with his novel “Perdido Street Station.”

Science Fiction, Books, Literature, Authors

16 points by pseudolus 54 days ago | 2 comments

Bill Bryson: Too many people publishing their own books (thetimes.com)

Publishing, Books, Opinion, Authors

9 points by bookofjoe 74 days ago | 2 comments

Who's Afraid of Tom Wolfe? (commonreader.wustl.edu)
Tom Wolfe’s books are being reissued, in homage, by Picador. But he would never put the news so blandly.

Literature, Authors, Publishing

93 points by lermontov 80 days ago | 26 comments

Youth and what happens when it's gone (tolstoyan.substack.com)
When he was in his early-20s, he hung a timeline above his desk. He had drawn it himself, meticulously, with a ruler and professional illustration pen. It spanned from 18 to 30, and he glue-sticked little pictures of his favorite authors next to the age at which they’d published their first novels. At 21, Bret Easton Ellis. At 24, Martin Amis. At 25, Michael Chabon and Zadie Smith. At 26, Philip Roth. At 27, John Updike.

Writing, Literature, Age, Creativity, Authors

339 points by mattgreenrocks 81 days ago | 229 comments

The Estate of Iain Banks (iainbanks.co.uk)
Between 1984 and 2013, Iain had 29 books published.

Authors, Books, Literature, Science Fiction

8 points by pseudolus 88 days ago | 0 comments

No Way Home (literaryreview.co.uk)
Since the deplorably premature death of W G Sebald in a road accident in 2001, Jo Catling, a former colleague of his at the University of East Anglia, has been among the most dedicated keepers of his flame.

Literary Criticism, Authors, Writing, UK

24 points by pepys 104 days ago | 3 comments

Don't make fun of renowned author Dan Brown (2013) (wordpress.com)
Renowned author Dan Brown woke up in his luxurious four-poster bed in his expensive $10 million house – and immediately he felt angry.

Authors, Writing, Humor

253 points by fanf2 110 days ago | 227 comments

I'm Ready for You: On Balzac (lrb.co.uk)

Literature, Essays, Authors

36 points by lermontov 111 days ago | 5 comments

Books written by humans are getting their own certification (theverge.com)
Books not created by AI will be listed in a US Authors Guild database that anyone can access.

Books, Publishing, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Authors

3 points by clumsysmurf 113 days ago | 2 comments

George R.R. Martin has co-authored a physics paper (arstechnica.com)
Although fans of A Song of Ice and Fire might still be hankering for the long-delayed next book in the series, bestselling sci-fi/fantasy author George R.R. Martin has instead added a different item to his long list of publications: a peer-reviewed physics paper just published in the American Journal of Physics that he co-authored.

Science, Physics, Literature, Authors

64 points by rntn 120 days ago | 91 comments

A Private Life – Nikolai Tolstoy Remembers Patrick O'Brian (unseenhistories.com)
A Very Private Life – Nikolai Tolstoy Remembers Patrick O’Brian

Biography, History, Literature, Authors

82 points by unseenhistories 141 days ago | 31 comments

Walter Isaacson: My So-Called Writing Life (2014) (wordpress.com)
Walter Isaacson is the 2014 LEH Humanist of the Year. President and CEO of The Aspen Institute and the best-selling author of biographies of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin, Isaacson contributed this autobiographical article to the new issue of Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine. To read the full issue online and view more photos from this article, click here. To renew your subscription to LCV, click here. The LEH will honor Isaacson at the March 29th Humanities Awards.

Biography, Writing, Authors, Leadership, Humanities

50 points by nsoonhui 144 days ago | 14 comments

Acquiring My Work: A Primer (scalzi.com)
Several times a month I get an email or social media message from someone who wants to know what the “best” way to buy my work is so that I, the writer, get as much of their money as possible. I think this is lovely! Thank you for thinking about me, and also, in a larger sense, about writers in general.

Writing, Authors, E-books, Sales, Income

31 points by healsdata 144 days ago | 4 comments

The Prophet of Cyberspace (2016) (filfre.net)
William Gibson was born on March 17, 1948, on the coast of South Carolina.

Science Fiction, Authors, Biography

71 points by cybersoyuz 208 days ago | 15 comments

Ask HN: Sci-fi recommendations by non-western authors? (ycombinator.com)
While talking with a friend about books, I realised that 99% of the sci-fi I've read was written by western authors. Mostly white men at that.

Science Fiction, Literature, Diversity, Recommendations, Authors

58 points by elric 242 days ago | 56 comments

I Am Herman Melville (lareviewofbooks.org)
SEVENTY YEARS AGO, Ray Bradbury, then 33 years old—the author of The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and Fahrenheit 451 (1953)—stood in front of a mirror in a London hotel room and declared, “I … am Herman Melville!” It was a last-ditch effort to channel the great American writer of Moby-Dick (1851). For Bradbury, it was either that or accept complete failure.

Literature, Biography, Authors

37 points by tintinnabula 255 days ago | 6 comments

The muscular imagination of Iain M. Banks: a future you might want (robinsloan.com)
When I peer into the far reaches of science fictional imagination, way out beyond the easy extrapolations and consensus futures, beyond the Blade Runners and the Star Treks, the name that looms largest is Iain M. Banks.

Science Fiction, Authors, Imagination

231 points by fanf2 257 days ago | 258 comments

NanoWrimo accepted people using AI – Authors Groups object (wired.com)

Artificial Intelligence, Writing, Authors, Technology

11 points by sien 262 days ago | 8 comments

An Interview with Robert Caro and Kurt Vonnegut (1999) (robertcaro.org)

Interviews, Writing, Literature, Authors

107 points by cocacola1 300 days ago | 40 comments

Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan (gregegan.net)

Science Fiction, Books, Authors

38 points by Bluestein 330 days ago | 16 comments

R.A. Lafferty: "The Greatest Catholic Novelist You Never Heard of" (2018) (benedictinstitute.org)