The Chicago Sun-Times is Real. The Rainmakers are Real, and Is Their Book List Afraid of Subscribing to Books
Percival Everett, who won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, never wrote a book called The Rainmakers, supposedly set in a “near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity.”
Yep. the bogus summer reading list from the Chicago Sun Times is real. There is me with it from a few minutes ago. (Support your local library!!)[image or embed]
For author and NPR Books contributor Gabino Iglesias, the fake book list speaks to the problems plaguing all media these days: “How many full-time book reviewers are there in the U.S.? Very few,” he said.
Just two months after the Chicago Sun-Times announced that 20% of its staff had accepted buyouts, there was a fake summer reading list.
The Sun-Times said in a post on Bluesky that it wasn’t editorial content and didn’t receive approval from 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.”
On Bluesky, author, former librarian and Book Riot editor Kelly Jensen laments, “This is the future of book recommendations when libraries are defunded and dismantled. Professionals are removed from the scene in exchange for inaccurate garbage.
“As a subscriber, I am livid!” xxxlovelit writes on Reddit. “What is the point of subscribing to a hard copy paper if they are just going to include AI slop too!?”
The list has no byline. The writer said that it was partly generated by Artificial Intelligence, first reported by the website 404 Media. Buscaglia wrote to NPR that his mistake had nothing to do with the Sun-Times. They trust that the content they purchase is accurate and I betrayed that trust. It’s on me 100 percent.”
The list was part of a licensed content from the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Making-up books and fake experts in AI debacle: a piece by Marco Buscaglia in the Chicago Sun-Times
Ray Bradbury, who coincidentally hated computers, did write Dandelion Wine, Jess Walter wrote Beautiful Ruins and Françoise Sagan penned the classic Bonjour Tristesse.
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. The fake book that Rebecca Makkai is credited for was titled “Boiling Point” and is said to have been about a climate scientist whose teenage daughter turns on her.
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. I was unable to find an article by Madia in Outside magazine, but that’s what it refers to. 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.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times publishes made-up books and fake experts in AI debacle
Why Artificial Intelligence is Important to Newsmakers: A Reappraisal of the Padma-Sutherland Hypothesis and Other Uncredited Articles
“This time, I did not and I can’t believe I missed it because it’s so obvious. He told 404 there was no excuses. I’m completely embarrassed on me 100 percent.
Another uncredited article titled “Summer food trends” features similar seemingly nonexistent experts, including a “Dr. Catherine Furst, food anthropologist at Cornell University.” The piece includes a quote from Padma that she doesn’t appear to have said.
News outlets often blame third-party content creators for the run of artificial intelligence-generated content next to their journalism. 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. It is often the defense of the newsroom that they had nothing to do with the content but the appearances of artificial intelligence along with real reporting and writing damages trust.