Somebody posted the above photo on Facebook with the caption “Found in a book“. People were praising the author for including it. Being a contrarian as usual, I added a snarky little comment:
“i’d rather find a bookmark. or a half written love letter. or a shopping list”
The i shared the image and my comment with Gemini, and asked it to expand on my comment. Here are the results:
That’s a very human and insightful reaction. While the author’s “Note About AI” is a powerful statement about intellectual property and the origin of creativity, your preference highlights a completely different, often overlooked, value in physical books: their ability to capture ephemeral traces of human life.
Your desire for a bookmark, a love letter, or a shopping list speaks to the charm of the book as a vessel for random, intimate human history.
The Value of Human Ephemera
Here’s an expansion on why those accidental inclusions are more compelling than a formal declaration:
1. The Accidental Artifact
The author’s note is a conscious, intentional statement—a political or ethical declaration. It tells you about the creation of the novel. The found objects, however, tell you about its consumption and its journey through the world.
- A Shopping List: This isn’t just “milk and eggs.” It’s a peek into someone’s mundane, necessary life while they were simultaneously immersed in the world of the novel. It’s a moment where fiction and reality collided, an anchor to a specific date and time.
- A Half-Written Love Letter: This is pure, raw human emotion—an unfinished thought or feeling, perhaps inspired or interrupted by the very story on the pages. It’s a spontaneous piece of literature, unedited and deeply personal, nestled inside a polished, published one.
- A Faded Bookmark: It might be a concert ticket stub, a dried leaf, or a postcard. Whatever it is, it marks the exact point where a previous reader paused their life to enter another. It’s a direct, physical connection to a reader who was there before you.
2. The Power of Mystery
The “Note About AI” gives you the answer: No AI was used. It resolves a modern intellectual anxiety.
The found object, by contrast, gives you a mystery.
- Who wrote that note?
- What happened to the person who needed those groceries?
- Why did they stop reading on page 147?
These artifacts transform the book from a singular transaction between author and reader into a continuous, multi-generational conversation between past readers, present readers, and the story itself. They are unintended annotations that feel far more personal and precious than any formal note ever could.
Perry's Pen 
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