The Policeman's Beard Is Half Constructed

Written by: Racter

List Price: $9.95 Our Price: $63.53 Availability: N/A Average Customer Rating:

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Summary: not actually written by a computer
Comment: This book is quite amusing, and is definitely worth a read. However, be aware that the text has been extensively "massaged" by human authors, and the original computer program, RACTER, that was used to produce it, required a great deal of human intervention to generate the text. It really is not a book "written by a computer," but rather an amusing example of using a computer to help generate text. In particular, the wacky associative "voice" of the book is really attributable to the humans behind the text. This can be confirmed by googling for RACTER or the book title, which has been extensively discussed on comp.ai.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, Captain.
Comment: The "first book written by a computer" won't win any awards for insight or style, but it certainly will make you smile.

Racter seems to have a predilection for lettuce, and for using a plethora of florid adjectives. Some of the jumps in logic (or are they disconnected ideas jammed together?) will have you scratching your head. His poetry is startling and full of gunshots of imagination. But don't blame him -- it's the way he was programmed.

Even so, Racter may make more sense than "Finnegans Wake"....

Computer-authored books and computer-composed music are in their infancy, but you can be sure there will be more (and better) to come.

Technical Details

Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.5409
EAN: 9780446380515
ISBN: 0446380512
Label: Warner Software/Warner Books
Manufacturer: Warner Software/Warner Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 120
Publication Date: 1984-09
Publisher: Warner Software/Warner Books
Studio: Warner Software/Warner Books