Latest news with #RebeccaMakkai
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"Summer reading list" with AI-generated titles of books that don't exist runs in Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times apologized Tuesday for an embarrassing fiasco involving AI. In its Sunday edition, the paper published a summer reading list with the titles, authors, and descriptions of 15 books. But it turned out that 10 of those 15 books do not exist. Author Isabel Allende was born in Chile and raised in Peru. She gained worldwide acclaim in 1982 with the publication of a novel "the House of the Spirits," which began as a letter to her dying grandfather. She is also the author of "Daughter of Fortune," "Island Beneath the Sea," and "The Wind Knows My Name," among other titles. But Allende has never written a book called "Tidewater Dreams." Yet, there that imaginary book is, first on the Sun-Times list — claiming to be "a multigenerational saga set in a coastal town where magical realism meets environmental activism." Author Rebecca Makkai gained acclaim in 2018 for "The Great Believers," the powerful and heartbreaking story of the AIDS epidemic and its devastating effect on a group of young men living in and around Chicago's Boystown or Northalsted community in the 1980s. Following its publication, Chicago Magazine writer Adam Mogan wrote, "I'll never be able to look at my adopted neighborhood with the same naïveté." Her follow-up to "The Great Believers" was "I Have Some Questions for You," an acclaimed literary mystery novel released in 2023. She has never written a book called "Boiling Point" that "centers on a climate scientist forced to reckon with her own family's environmental impact when her teenage daughter becomes an eco-activist targeting her mother's wealthy clients." But the summer reading list that ran in the Sun-Times claims she did, and calls it her follow-up to "The Great Believers" — something with which "I Have Some Questions for You" Bodie Kane might take issue. "The Last Algorithm" by Andy Weir, "Hurricane Season" by Brit Bennett, "The Collectors Piece" by Taylor Jenkins Reid, "Nightshade Market" by Min Jin Lee, "The Longest Day" by Rumaan Alam, "Migrations" by Maggie O'Farrell, "The Rainmakers" by Percival Everett, and "Salt and Honey" by Delia Owens are all AI-generated fake titles too. Lee even wrote on X: "I have not written and will not be writing a novel called 'Nightshade Market.' Thank you." The last five books — "Bonjour Tristesse" by Françoise Sagan, "Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter, "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury, "Call Me By Your Name" by André Aciman, and "Atonement" by Ian McEwan — are all real titles. However, none of those books are new as one might expect for a summer reading list—the descriptions even acknowledge that "Bonjour Tristesse" was published in 1954 and "Dandelion Wine" in 1957. The Sun-Times special section was licensed from a national content partner that used a freelance writer. The section was not approved by the paper's newsroom. "Our partner confirmed that a freelancer used an AI agent to write the article," Sun-Times parent organization Chicago Public Media wrote Tuesday. "This should be a learning moment for all of journalism that our work is valued because of the relationship our very real, human reporters and editors have with our audiences." The Sun-Times said it is updating its policies to ensure nothing like this happens again. The paper also noted that subscribers will not be charged for the premium edition in which the list appeartd. The newsroom's union, the Chicago Sun-Times Guild, released a statement reading in part: "We take great pride in the union-produced journalism that goes into the respected pages of our newspaper and on our website. We're deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work."
The Verge
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Chicago Sun-Times publishes made-up books and fake experts in AI debacle
The May 18th issue of the Chicago Sun-Times features dozens of pages of recommended summer activities: new trends, outdoor activities, and books to read. But some of the recommendations point to fake, AI-generated books, and other articles quote and cite people that don't appear to exist. Alongside actual books like Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman, a summer reading list features fake titles by real authors. Min Jin Lee is a real, lauded novelist — but 'Nightshade Market,' 'a riveting tale set in Seoul's underground economy,' isn't one of her works. Rebecca Makkai, a Chicago local, is credited for a fake book called 'Boiling Point' that the article claims is about a climate scientist whose teenage daughter turns on her. In a post on Bluesky, the Sun-Times said it was 'looking into how this made it into print,' noting that it wasn't editorial content and wasn't created or approved by the newsroom. Victor Lim, senior director of audience development, added in an email to The Verge that 'it is unacceptable for any content we provide to our readers to be inaccurate,' saying more information will be provided soon. It's not clear if the content is sponsored — the cover page for the section bears the Sun-Times logo and simply calls it 'Your guide to the best of summer.' The book list appears without a byline, but a writer named Marco Buscaglia is credited for other pieces in the summer guide. Buscaglia's byline appears on a story about hammock culture in the US that quotes several experts and publications, some of whom do not appear to be real. It references a 2023 Outside magazine article by Brianna Madia, a real author and blogger, that I was unable to find. The piece also cites an 'outdoor industry market analysis' by Eagles Nest Outfitters that I was unable to find online. Also quoted is 'Dr. Jennifer Campos, professor of leisure studies at the University of Colorado,' who does not appear to exist. Buscaglia did not immediately respond to a request for comment but admitted to 404 Media that he uses AI 'for background at times' and always checks the material. 'This time, I did not and I can't believe I missed it because it's so obvious. No excuses,' he told 404. 'On me 100 percent and I'm completely embarrassed.' Another uncredited article titled 'Summer food trends' features similar seemingly nonexistent experts, including a 'Dr. Catherine Furst, food anthropologist at Cornell University.' Padma Lakshmi is also attributed in the piece for a quote she doesn't appear to have said. News outlets have repeatedly run AI-generated content next to their actual journalism, often blaming the issue on third-party content creators. High-profile incidents of AI-generated content at Gannett and Sports Illustrated raised questions about the editorial process, and in both cases, a third-party marketing firm was behind the AI sludge. Newsrooms' defense is typically that they had nothing to do with the content — but the appearance of AI-generated work alongside real reporting and writing by human staffers damages trust all the same.
Chicago Tribune
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Chicago has long been a place for book lovers, and book sellers
In the Sunday book section of the New York Times, you'll find the Literary Destinations feature. This relatively new weekend addition to the paper is intended as one 'in which authors provide literary guides to their cities, including book recommendations that capture a sense of everyday life and the local cultural landscape.' The author of this week's offering is Rebecca Makkai, a stunningly fine novelist of, as the Times notes, five works of fiction, including the Pulitzer finalist 'The Great Believers.' She begins her piece by writing, 'Chicago is too big, enormous in both geography and spirit, to capture in its entirety. Locals understand this.' Later, she writes of the 'DNA of Chicago: neighborhood as subject, neighborhood as map of the heart.' I couldn't agree more. Read what she has to say in her short essay and then see what specific books and authors she recommends. Buy and read one, or more. Could any Chicago reading list not contain Theodore Dreiser's 'Sister Carrie,' Richard Wright's 'Black Boy,' Carl Sandburg's 'Chicago Poems' or Saul Bellow's 'The Adventures of Augie March'? These usual suspects are joined by titles by such other dead giants as Studs Terkel, Nelson Algren and Gwendolyn Brooks (including her poetry collection 'Annie Allen' and for her only novel 'Maud Martha'). The list also includes such worthy, very much alive authors as Stuart Dybek ('The Coast of Chicago'), Alex Kotlowitz ('There Are No Children Here' and 'An American Summer'), Mark Larson ('Ensemble'), Aleksandar Hemon ('The Lazarus Project') and Audrey Niffenegger ('The Time-Traveler's Wife'). There's more and whether intended or not, Makkai's offering is timely and useful, because this coming Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day. It's a national effort by the American Booksellers Association, to celebrate the country's independent book stores (more information at There are events in every state and dozens of cities. And so do we happily have the 2025 Chicagoland Indie Bookstore Day Crawl. Go to for a handy map and lots of information about the more than 50 book stores you can visit, many of them having specials, events and surprises. Ellen Hanson is looking forward to Saturday. She is one of the newest members of that small, exclusive, hardworking gang called bookstore owners. She owns Sandmeyer's, a charming space at 714 S. Dearborn. 'I have always wanted to own a bookstore but spent my working life in professional services,' she told me over the weekend. 'After I retired in 2020 I was, frankly, bored. My neighbor Ellen Sandmeyer was selling her store (which she opened with her late husband Ulrich Sandmeyer in 1982) and so I bought it and have been happy ever since.' There have been some surprises — 'the astonishing number of books that are published,' she says — but she is enthusiastic and optimistic about the future for independent book stores. Though COVID wasn't good for much, book folks have benefitted from increased traffic in stores due to, of all things, the pandemic. As Louis Menard put it in a New Yorker magazine story last year, 'Since the end of the pandemic, there has been a small but significant uptick in the number of independent bookstores. … Reading turned out to be a popular way of passing the time in lockdown, more respectable than binge-watching or other diversions one might think of. A slight decline in sales over the past couple of years suggests that people felt freed up to go out and play pickleball instead of staying home and trying to finish 'War and Peace.'' Hanson says, 'The community has been very supportive.' She is looking forward to Saturday's crawl and to the annual Printers Row Lit Fes t, which will take over the neighborhood September 6-7. So, what books should you buy? You can't go wrong with any of Makkai's suggestions. But if you are looking for something more, I recommend 'The Bookshop: The History of the American Bookstore' by Evan Friss, which my colleague John Warner wrote about in the Tribune a few months ago, saying that the book reminds us 'that the constants for what makes a bookstore are the people and the books in community with each other.' Friss does not ignore the numbers, informing us that 'In 1958, Americans purchased 72% of their books from small, single-store, personal bookshops. … As recently as 1993, the US Census Bureau counted 13,499 bookstores. … By 2021, however, there were just 5,591 bookstores left.' He also writes, 'Bookstores may be endangered spaces, but they are also powerful spaces.' His book is not a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of the business of books. Rather it is a series of 13 sections, each devoted to what Friss considers notable bookstores and their owners, from Benjamin Franklin and his print shop to Amazon's stores. What grabbed me was Chapter 4 and its 20 pages devoted the important, influential role the city has played in the business of books. Focusing on Marshall Field & Company and its once massive book department on the third floor of its main store in the Loop, he cites a British writer who in 1920 described it as 'to ordinary English bookshops like a liner to a houseboat. (It is) said to be the largest bookstore in the world.' It was then one of 164 bookstores in the city, run by an innovative, autocratic woman named Marcella Burns Hafner, barely 5 feet tall but of such forcefulness that she was referred to, in whispers of course, as the Czarina. She is mentioned in another book, 1952's 'Give the Lady What She Wants,' written by my father, Herman Kogan, and his newspapering pal, Lloyd Wendt. They wrote, 'Her section became the most famous book department in the country. She staged Chicago's first book fair … originated the idea of autographing parties.' She was a real life character worthy of, well, a novel.
Axios
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Eventbrite launches "It Lists" to spotlight top Chicago events
Eventbrite is launching new features today, including curated lists of events from Chicago tastemakers. The big picture: The online events calendar can get crowded as anyone is allowed to post their events to the site, but the new "It Lists" are a way to cut through the noise. The Chicago "It Listers" include: Author Rebecca Makkai with literary-inspired events like book clubs and workshops; Curator Easy Otabor has agendas around art, fashion and culture; and Musical duo DRAMA offers ideas for friend hangs centered around music and dance. State of play: The lists, as well as a new feature that allows users to sync calendars with friends, aims to make it easier for digital natives, i.e. Gen Zers, to turn the connections they build online into real life experiences. Reality check: Being online all the time cuts both ways. It can lead to isolation and loneliness, but online communities can also create belonging for people who don't find that same acceptance offline. By the numbers: There's a longing to find those spaces IRL. 95% of 18- to 35-year-olds are interested in exploring interests and communities they've discovered online through in-person events, Eventbrite found in a study released in January. 45% said their interests are "somewhat" or "very" niche so discovering others with those same interests help create a sense of belonging.
