KUOW, Seattle Public Library winter season finale: Sonora Jha's 'Intemperance' ⁠48%

By Katie Campbell⁠0%

5/1/2026, 4:02:20 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Halo Effect, Optimism Bias, and Biased Writer Voice, with Attempt to Sell a Product or Service as the most egregious example at 22.9% saturation with 131 hits. Analysis detected 579 faulty-reasoning hits from 573 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 49.2% and a BS Rank of ⁠48% (11,093 of 21,176 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 52.40% of the article peer group.

The KUOW Book Club is concluding our series of live author talks in partnership with the Seattle Public Library with the great Seattle author Sonora Jha. 
We'll be reading her latest novel, "Intemperance." 
Jha will join us for a live interview at the Seattle Central Library on May 21. 
Register for free here. 
The event will be the grand finale of this winter's Book Talks season at the library, but it won't be your last chance to see some of the best authors in the Pacific Northwest in conversation with the KUOW Book Club. 
Stayed tuned for details about a summer series that's in the works. 
RELATED: Cozy reader winter: Join KUOW Book Club, Seattle Public Library for live author talks 
Jha first rocked my world with her novel "The Laughter," which I selected for the Book Club back in November 2024. 
When we spoke then, she talked about how at the end of that book, her lead female character "drops the veneer" and is no longer willing to participate in the "part that she's asked to play." 
And perhaps Jha, in her latest novel, is diving back into the idea of a woman fed up with society's expectations of her. 
"Intemperance" follows a 55-year-old woman who decides to hold a swayamvar, drawn from an ancient Indian custom in which suitors compete in a feat of wills and strength to win a beautiful princess’s hand in marriage. 
To her surprise, a collection of suitors do show up to compete for her love, setting off a scandal of sorts while she grapples with what it means to her in the later chapter in life. 
How absolutely delightful. 
This sounds right for anyone who enjoyed "All Fours" by Miranda July and Jesse Q. 
Sutanto's new romp, "Ms. 
Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Black," which I just finished and loved. 
Read along with the KUOW Book Club by signing up for our newsletter, and join Jha and me at the Seattle Central Library on May 21 at 6:30 p.m. 
If you can't make it, don't worry: I'll share the interview and my thoughts on May 25. 
(We'll also share the interview on the "Meet Me Here" podcast feed.) 
RELATED: Queering classics out of cliché with Seattle author Molly Olguín 
"Intemperance" was a 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize finalist, praised for centering a middle-aged, disabled woman of color. 
"It is unapologetic, it is fierce, it dares the world to a confrontation over who is deserving of every affection," the Aspen Words Literary Prize jury wrote. 
"This is a fable about questions we must ask concerning the love lives of those on the margins — who gets to create expectations for them, who gets to make the rules for if and how they should be loved, who decides when those rules must be rewritten or simply trashed? 
Whatever answers the reader might conjure will only make room for more questions and therein lies the brilliance of this novel." 
I'm sure I will have plenty of questions for Jha — I always do — and I hope you do, too. 
Read along with us this month, and come out to the Seattle Central Library on May 21 for a chance to ask Jha about what's on your mind at the conclusion of this novel and this season of reading. 
RELATED: Subscribe to the KUOW Book Club newsletter here 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 3.7%Katie Campbell: 2.6%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias3.7%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 3.7%Katie Campbell: 3.0%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic3.7%This article: 2.6%Katie Campbell: 1.0%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic2.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 3.7%Katie Campbell: 0.8%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias3.7%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 3.6%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.1%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 10.1%Katie Campbell: 2.9%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias10.1%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.4%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.5%Katie Campbell: 4.9%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias0.5%This article: 3.7%Katie Campbell: 1.3%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias3.7%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 2.2%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 11.7%Katie Campbell: 5.2%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect11.7%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 5.9%Katie Campbell: 1.0%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias5.9%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 3.1%Katie Campbell: 2.4%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority3.1%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.4%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 3.7%Katie Campbell: 0.2%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning3.7%This article: 2.6%Katie Campbell: 4.1%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization2.6%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.5%Katie Campbell: 5.6%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion0.5%This article: 4.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question4.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.4%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 5.9%Katie Campbell: 3.7%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal5.9%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.8%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 6.3%Katie Campbell: 0.9%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote6.3%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.5%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 6.5%Katie Campbell: 7.4%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice6.5%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 3.3%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 1.1%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Katie Campbell: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 22.9%Katie Campbell: 5.8%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…22.9%

573 words analyzed.

Speakers

4speakers31%attributed speech393writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
KUOW • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 41 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageKUOW • 15 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 100.0% coverageSonora Jha • 36 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 36 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 36 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageMolly Olguín • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageAspen Words Literary Prize jury • 27 words • 0.0% coverageAspen Words Literary Prize jury • 51 words • 0.0% coverageAspen Words Literary Prize jury • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 100.0% coverageKUOW • 9 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

Sonora Jha

100%flagged-word coverage
36 attributed words20% of attributed speech75% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Unattributed Quote+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Sonora Jha: 100.0%100.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -24.4 ptsWriter: 24.4%Sonora Jha: 0.0%0.0%Biased Writer Voice-9.4 ptsWriter: 9.4%Sonora Jha: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.