Collaborative bookwiki

In 1969, Penelope Asch wrote a racy novel called Naked Came the Stranger.

Panned as one of the worst books ever written, it became a best seller when Penelope was unmasked as twenty-four reporters from Long Island Newsday. Each wrote a chapter — without having read any other chapters. If I remember, they were given the names of the characters and not much more.

Tonight I came upon a Web 2.0 equivalent.

“We Are Smarter Than Me has been formed to prove that the community can write a compelling book better than individual experts.”

“This book is being written by, and for, the community. The Founders have begun the writing process, but the text you see is alive. All registered members may edit, add and delete content at will.”

I’m game. I wrote several paragraphs in a chapter. I’ll probably go back to see how this evolves.

Put a million monkeys at a million typewriters. Eventually they will recreate the collected works of Shakespeare. I suspect we>me will turn out like one of the monkeys’ earlier drafts. Time will tell.

You’re welcome to join me in this adventure.