MotherJones MJ93: Hacking in the valley of the dolls

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Just This Once is a new novel about sex, drugs, and power, with an odd author’s credit. Instead of “By Scott French” it reads: “As told to Scott French.” French is a Northern California writer, computer buff, and fan of Jacqueline Susann, whose Valley of the Dolls is the best- selling American novel of all time. Using his Macintosh IIcx computer and an artificial-intelligence program, French claims to have created a novel such as Susann would have written were she still alive. Just This Once is “the first novel,” he says, “ever written by a computer.”

Over several years, French analyzed the components that created Susann’s specific style. He then supplied the computer with a basic plot, scenes, and characters. “I wrote several thousand rules to describe my characters,” says French, “and then as the plot developed the computer told me what Ms. Susann would likely have written under the circumstances were the story hers.”

There have been grumblings from the inheritors of Susann’s estate, who apparently want part of the proceeds from Just This Once, but French and his publisher Steven Schragis are confident that they are on solid legal ground. “My book,” French insists, “does not duplicate Susann’s writing. It is simply and magically reminiscent of America’s most popular novelist.”

French’s Mac is still humming. When asked about his next project, he grins and says, “I really enjoy Tom Clancy’s work.”

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate