I doubt I will raise eyebrows by confessing that this review was written with the help of a word-processing program. I feel quite safe seeing my words appear in yellow letters on a black screen. The computer bears me no malice, nor does it have an opinion of my literary ability. If it malfunctions, the problem is caused by the manufacturer’s oversight, or my own ignorance. The computer is a machine—nothing more, nothing less.

Even so, a growing number of scientists are convinced that one day my computer will reject my commas or debate my views of the universe. This optimistic faith in the power of machines only enhances the fears of those who are still more comfortable with a legal pad and a sharpened pencil. In Hence, his brave new novel, the poet and novelist Brad Leithauser plunges into the heart of this dichotomy, playing with our preconceived notions of man versus machine. He is no Luddite, and is far from viewing the conflict in black and white, but his forecast for humanity in a world of machines is not very sunny.

In Hence, the battlefield is the chessboard, as Tim Briggs, a twenty-year-old prodigy, plays ANNDY, an M.I.T.-programmed computer. The match is actually a publicity stunt for the Congam Corporation, who built the computer. Since the rules of chess have not changed in thousands of years, it might seem that the computer would have no trouble beating the pants off a human