Danielle Dutton's 'Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other' Explores Literary Genre Amid AI Era

In her book 'Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other,' Danielle Dutton explores the challenges faced by literary art in the age of generative AI, such as ChatGPT. The work is divided into four parts: 'Prairie', 'Dresses', 'Art', and 'Other', each experimenting with diverse formats like stories, essays, plays, and collage. Notably, 'Pool of Tears (A Play in One Act)' features nonhuman animal characters and draws on the ideas of thinkers like Mikhail Bakhtin and Amitav Ghosh. Dutton advocates for surrealist fiction and collage techniques. The 'Prairie' section offers a cycle of stories set in the Midwest, while 'Dresses' includes 65 quotes from various authors. Dutton has previously published 'SPRAWL' (2010) and 'Margaret the First' (2016). The review highlights the book's engagement with genre fluidity, though it notes difficulties in expressing new forms.