Whatever you do, don’t tell Randal Graves

Over at L’ennui melodieux, Randal Graves frequently offers provocative insight into a writer’s struggles.

But, hey, creative angst simply is not a problem for the patented Automated Author, as A. J. Liebling demonstrates in his post on the prolific (more than 200,000 books) career of one Philip M. Parker.

A professor of management science, Parker has found the ultimate answer to writer's block--a computer program that churns out a book in 20 minutes and never misses a deadline.

The products are no monkeys-tapping-the-keys gibberish but specialized volumes that sell for high prices. Amazon will send you "The 2007-2012 Outlook for Lemon-Flavored Bottled Water in Japan" for $495 plus shipping.

I could swear I edited the bottled-water book -- or maybe it was the book on Chinese prawns. I know I definitely edited a compendium on the Finnish import market for toilet paper, but I doubt it was Mr. Parker’s.