ChaptGPT and Book Reviews

 

Ask any writer who reviews books, how hard is it?

It’s hard, a genuine struggle to understand, digest, and then write something meaningful and true. Hours go by.

 

 

Enter ChatGPT.  I asked for a review of Karren Alenier’s book how we hold on. Within seconds, the bot produced thoughts that rang true. Here’s the conclusion:

“How We Hold On is a beautifully crafted collection that marries formal discipline with heartfelt depth. Alenier navigates memory, grief, joy, and language with elegance, offering an emotionally resonant journey through family ties, love, and loss—both intimate and universal. A compelling read for anyone who appreciates lyrical precision and emotional honesty.”

The only nit I might pick is that I meant for the title of the book to be in lowercase but that’s a hard thing to know given how my publisher rendered the title on the front cover and on the title page inside the book (all uppercase letters).

Furthermore, ChatGPT picks up the details. It knows that my section “Mama’s not a trapezoid” deals with the “complex relationship” with my mother. It recognizes that I wrote in various poetic forms from villanelle to Golden shovel. It draws professionally  from the excellent review that was published in the Mom Egg Review. What I mean by professional is that ChatGPT provides a quote from the MER essay. There is no pirating of the words in that review.  And surprise surprise, it also mentions the video of the reading I did from how we hold on for Poets vs. the Pandemic.

Now it seems justifiable to do profile reviews that provide the vital details plus key descriptors, first and last lines, and a short comment. Have a look at this format done for Fables from Italy and Beyond and The Mouth Is Also a Compass.