April 24, 2006
How Kaavya Viswanathan got rich, got caught, and got ruinedLiterature
Many of you have already picked up on the story broken by the Harvard Crimson on Sunday. It appears VERY likely that young author Kaavya Viswanathan is a cheat. Her newly released novel, part of a lucrative two-book deal, has several passages that are almost identical to a 2001 novel that examined similar adolescent themes:
A recently-published novel by Harvard undergraduate Kaavya Viswanathan ‘08, “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,” contains several passages that are strikingly similar to two books by Megan F. McCafferty—the 2001 novel “Sloppy Firsts” and the 2003 novel “Second Helpings.”
At one point, “Opal Mehta” contains a 14-word passage that appears verbatim in McCafferty’s book “Sloppy Firsts.”
Reached on her cell phone Saturday night, Viswanathan said, “No comment. I have no idea what you are talking about.”
McCafferty, the author of three novels and a former editor at the magazine Cosmopolitan, wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson Saturday night: “I’m already aware of this situation, and so is my publisher…” [Link]
Normally I would be skeptical until I heard more about this, but the Crimson has just broken it down to the point where you know how this is all going to end. Her literary career is over. If I were her I would think about falling back on medical school or something real quick. I was thrilled to see a teenage girl that could still write and didn’t use “u” instead of “you,” or “r” instead of “are.” My hopes for the next generation are now completely dashed. Here are just two of the numerous examples of apparent plagiarism cited by the Crimson:
From page 217 of McCafferty’s first novel: “But then he tapped me on the shoulder, and said something so random that I was afraid he was back on the junk.”
From page 142 of Viswanathan’s novel: “…he tapped me on the shoulder and said something so random I worried that he needed more expert counseling than I could provide…”From page 237 of McCafferty’s first novel: “Finally, four major department stores and 170 specialty shops later, we were done.”
From page 51 of Viswanathan’s novel: “Five department stores, and 170 specialty shops later, I was sick of listening to her hum along to Alicia Keys……” [Link]
Reading the Crimson article inspired me to do some investigative blogging of my own and has led me to a fantastic discovery which I would like to reveal first to SM readers (an then later to the world press). Aided by SM staff I have found striking similarities between the novel “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,” and the 1982 book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. For example, if you take the name of the main character, “Opal Mehta,” and you rearrange the letters, it gives you the following phrase:
I think somewhere in Holy Blood, Holy Grail they mention that “a pale moth” is one of the symbols associated with the female divinity, a symbol that was suppressed in the 6th century by the papacy. On a previous post we all wondered why the title character would be named “Opal Mehta” of all things. It makes sense to me now.
Furthermore, I have reason to believe that Kaavya Viswanathan may not even be her real name. Rearranging the letters in her name gives you:
Roughly translated this seems to mean that Satan stays away from wherever the Ankh is displayed (the ankh being an ancient symbol that some believe is the precursor to the Christian cross). This again is a theme that Baigent and Leigh discuss in their non-fiction book. Before the Harvard Crimson article I would have just thought that “maybe this is all a coincidence,” and this really is just a book about a teenage girl that she created from her imagination. I am sure that you all agree in light of the evidence that I have just laid out that this is highly unlikely. This girl simply has no conscience.
See related posts: How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and…, The narcissist principle
abhi on April 24, 2006 12:35 AM in Humor, Literature, News · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
¤ Who would have thunk It said: So it is like this …
¤ DesiPundit said: Kaavya Disappoints
Banished Soul is not too impressed with Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore’s first book, “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life” [hat tip: Gautam G] And there are talks of plagiarism doing the rounds now. Damn! ...
Her literary career is over.
A PhD in Earth Sciences is always an option.
God, almost every newspaper all over the world has picked the story - check Google news.
Another example of "model minority".
I think she might be asked to do some real damage control.
KT aka Stephen Ambrose
I finally commented in the other Opal/Kaavya thread, and just 2 seconds later you post this!
Yeah, I'm sure she did crib from the other book to help her along. And I do take it seriously.
For $500,000 the author should be doing honest work, and good work by any standard - it is so rare for any author to get a deal like this, and plenty of excellent authors do not get compensated like this for their work.
Now the Holy Blood/Holy Grail connection? Well, how else do you expect Baigent and Leigh to pay off their million-pound debt from losing their lawsuit? ;)
And why the caveat? For $500,000 should there be an extensive group of handlers shaping her work? She gets the credit for any merit attached to the book - she should take the blame for any plagiarism.
And why the caveat? For $500,000 should there be an extensive group of handlers shaping her work? She gets the credit for any merit attached to the book - she should take the blame for any plagiarism.
That's true. I'll remove the caveat.
So who thinks she'll get kicked out of Harvard? My guess: She won't get kicked out because of the novel. Either they'll find that she plagiarized in her academic work, or the other students will make her life so miserable that she'll have to leave.
No, I don't think they'll kick her out, either.
Seeing that this is a more appropriate posting, I have to plagiarize myself from the other post. Even then, I feel the need to use quotes ;-)
"This is even more sinister than Opal's character, who lives and breathes Harvard and does all the right things to get in: If the allegations are founded, it seems this young author has decided that perceived success is all that matters - not the journey - and to take whatever means necessary to get to that status of perceived success. I'm not impressed!
ps. I hope she gets the counselling and help she needs to get her through and past, what will be undoubtedly, a very trying time. Moreover, I hope she gets help dealing with whatever moved her to plagiarize in the first place.'
How Kaavya Viswanathan got rich, got caught, and got ruined....and became best friends with James Frey.
Abhi, not sure if, by bringing up Holy Blood, Holy Grail, you intended to make a point about coincidences and how easily all cliched writing can sound suspiciously similar. If so, I rather agree.
But something smells fishy here, and while I feel sorry for the poor teenager who (total speculation) is/was caught up in all sorts of pressures and expectations, there's a smell of hubris around anyone who gets this much money based on zero experience. Additionally, a commenter in another thread raised the specter of packaging companies...she might not have known that her name was slapped on some regurgutated drivel, in which case I blame parents and publishers, along with the ambitiously precocious young lass.
No matter what, I've got my bag of popcorn and plan on watching this to the end ;)
This brown sister needs our help.. i say she is being unfairly targetted. She was merely inspired from those books and it was her way of paying homage to them :) :p
Don't worry Opal I will organize a rally on your behalf.
P.S: Can you add me as your friend on orkut/facebook...
I meant Kaavya... see I m so agitated by all this that I forgot who the author was.
P.S: Can you at least email me a pic =)
Abhi, not sure if, by bringing up Holy Blood, Holy Grail, you intended to make a point about coincidences and how easily all cliched writing can sound suspiciously similar.
Cicatrix, I am not sure if you intended to dismiss my investigative blogging skills and are ignoring the fact that the word "Satan" is clearly in her name. :)
The Crimson looks solid. She looks guilty.
You blinded me with science, Abhi ;)
You are a supersleuth, nonpareil. (In all definitions of the term: smart, brown and with sprinkles!)
While I stick by my contention that, in general, coincidences are easy to find in the world of cliche-riddled genre writing....I agree that there's too much here to dismiss. I rather expected something weird to turn up since everything about this deal seemed so odd... but I'm almost disappointed that it's as pedestrian as plagiarism. I still expected her to be too smart for something like this.
Kush, Google News now turns up 99 articles. Damn, this girl's going to get friend.
I'm slightly concerned about the fallout from this on other young desi writers trying to get published...
Damn, this girl's going to get fried, I meant.
(damn tyeops)
I'm slightly concerned about the fallout from this on other young desi writers trying to get published...
Ages ago, when I was young and bright, I once sat on the "Code of Academic Integrity Council" at Cornell as a student member for a case where a graduate student had used somebody's work along with his and not acknowledged them as co-authors in a conference abstract. I kept mostly quiet in the whole preceedings except 1-2 sentences as it had some world class mathematicians discussing the case with utmost concern. The reason I am telling the story that people/ academics take plagarism very seriously - it is an honor system.
On grander scheme of things, Opalgate is a far more serious case than one I talked above. I do not think she should be crucfied but ask to take concrete remedial actions by Harvard. I do not think it will affect desi writers but the yuppie young brown ones a little bit who are on fast-forward stardom.
Even for "Life of Pie", all the charge was that his story seemed inspired by a similar earlier story. Or even "Da Vinci Code" as Abhi has indirectly alluded in the post. Even for Stepen Ambrose, it is slightly more complicated for a historian not doing original research. Or for that matter, JFK's "Profiles in Courage"
She seems to picking up sentences and changing few words here and there.
it is a quick fall for a wanna be writer... too bad, so sad..and she is not being pin pointed because she is brown... she is being pointed out because she plagiarized... as i stated before harvard check out her college application.. i'm sure that the honor code might have been broken there too...
it's 'how kaavya viswanathan got freyed...'
can you imagine the wrath she would face if she had gone on oprah? people magazine as a few other high profile sources already wrote about her debut book....
abhi:
taken aback by your statement:
If I were her I would think about falling back on medical school or something real quick.
i'm sorry..but being a physician i felt angst and anger at that statement... you just don't fall back into medicine.... fine, cheat while writing a book (that still doesn't bode well with me and tons more other folks)....but you can't when caring for a human life... that is purely just satanical...and will truly hurt someone... her character (or lack of) has dimly shown it's true colors...and they are not pretty...
i'd tell her to fall back into her pot of $500,000 and hope it softens her fall...because ms. viswanathan..it's going to be a long arse ride...dreamworks, and the people who gave you that cash will come a knocking shortly at your door.. let's hope she didn't spend it already...
this is so vindictive... read the passages again. i'd say she was inspired. how far can you differ in chick lit anyway? it's not like she ripped off shakespeare.
Schadenfreude is always a little distasteful.
That the passages are pasted and reworded seems clear from the quotes released so far. The question is, did some Alloy hack do it, or did she do it herself? Smells bad either way. If it's Alloy's fault, it lays bare a possibly manufactured, boy band-like collaboration. If Viswanathan's...
Silver lining: America learns to spell Viswanathan :)
Have mercy, I'm the worst, cruelest bitch there is, but even I am a little queasy at all this joy over another's downfall. I was jealous of her, too, but I don't wish this kind of gleeful hatred on anyone, especially when we aren't exactly sure who is responsible for this.
This blog is absolutely hysterical!
this is such a contrast from this article interviewing her in 'the hindu' ironically published yesterday...and in it she says:
These days my dad has appointed himself my business manager which, in his mind, means he reads every article and blog written about me and passes it on to me even if I don't want to read it.
hence sepia mutiny and a few other blogs will be in her email as i type this...
and this:
How are your parents dealing with the attention you've been getting in the U.S. and India?
They are proud of what I've done but they are also wonderfully nuts and eccentric about it too. When it started, my parents were trying to handle it in the typical traditional Indian fashion Play it down. Beware of the "evil eye". But now things have changed. The day the book was released, my mom went driving around Bergen County (in New Jersey where they live) visiting every Barnes and Noble and buying my book at every store
it's pretty tragic at the downfall.. and no it's not a gleeful thing to point out...but facts are facts... and whoever is responsible, whether it be an editor, or someone else....i guess that 'evil eye' she alluded to above opened... sad...
She ought to get in touch with Dan Brown's lawyer...
I cant help but feel for her. We all do phenomenally dumb things in uni, her mistake is just painfully public.
Time for a new book perhaps? "Kaavya Vishwanathan probably copied, probably got rich and probably gets sued"
i agree with anna, brown- schadenfreude, stop now.
unless its funny, then its all good.
I agree with Cicatrix. I think the pressures of such a high-profile deal got to the author, her parents and/or her publisher and packager.
If I were her I would think about falling back on medical school or something real quick.She admitted in several of her early interviews that she has no literary career aspirations, but plans a career in investment banking.
I usually don't buy this defense, but she really was just a kid when she wrote the book, and, as Pooja said, has no literary aspirations and probably didn't expect this to blow up so successfully the way it did.
I just feel sort of bad for her. She made a mistake and the fallout will hurt.
I've actually read both of McCafferty's books and to be honest I'm not that impressed with these charges. It's obvious Kaavya lifted some sentence structures straight out of the text but other than that the stories are completely different. Plagiarism is a serious violation of the honor code but both authors were trying to write in the language of a teenager. A teenage girl, at that.
I'm kind of surprised that her publishers didn't check for this sort of thing.
Especially with a first time author.
The Boston Globe has the story here.
I dont get it. So what if the two novels are written about similar themes and similar subjects???
Is this the first time someone wrote about a teenagers life?? Whats the f#$%ing big deal??
Like I have said earlier ... since there is no scientific way to compare works of literature, its just a matter of marketing !!!
Nobody says anything about Rushdie's new novel, that sounds a copy of the movie "Mission Kashmir" ... WTF
To echo RC and others... are you all for real? Is the Crimson and its distinguished faculty expert for real? If that's the best that they come up with in terms of examples...
The reasons these types of novels resonate is because yes, they reflect the "voice" that many young girls of a certain mindset are. These are not original ideas here, the phrasing is innovative or creative. Unless... OK, Megan McCafferty is a cheat! She plagiarised my little cousin sister's journal entries!!
And so what if it turns out that Kaavya Vishwanathan had read those books after all? When I read something -- usually powerful, sometimes it doesn't have to be -- it resonates through me... the ideas and/or the words imprint themselves on my thinking. And if part of Kaavya "channeling" this Opal character hit on something she had read before... how would she even know that's what her brain was really coughing up?
I mean, how do infants acquire language? How do students learn to write essays? How do people learn anything? Through experience, and by reading others' experiences... and by intaking others' words and making them a part of their own minds. Can you trace every single concept or sentence or idea you've ever created to its sources and influences?
I'm waiting for the day when they can use an artifical neural net. to give some scientific cred. to these things...
To play the cliche's advocate, several men have tapped me on the shoulder and said something so random I worried he was back on the Wild Turkey/crack/XBox and needed more expert counseling than I could provide.
However, the issue of precisely 170 specialty shops bothers me. Girl ...
She says it better than I can:
Helene Atwan, director of Beacon Press in Boston, which has no connection to either book, said several of the passages cited by the Crimson are close enough to suggest that, ''whether intentionally or unintentionally, she certainly borrowed some phrasing and some pieces of the storyline from another book."Atwan, who has not read either book, said the gravity of Viswanathan's situation depends greatly on the extent of the alleged borrowing -- a few similar descriptions or phrasings may be less significant if the books' plots and characters are very different.
She added that any borrowing might have been inadvertent.
But she said this case could be seen as a cautionary tale: Tight deadlines and enormous contracts can place tremendous pressure on young writers. ''Of course my heart goes out to her," she said. ''I imagine that a lot of other people will be looking at this book very carefully to see if there are other sources." [Link]
Er...a few very generic lines in a vapid piece of chick-lit taken from another vapid piece of chick-lit doth not plagiarism make...methinks. People use language like this all the time, so it's not like the Dan Brown case.
I think it's very easy for a first-time writer (esp one so young) to be strongly influenced by another one, even subconsciously. Yeah, we were all upset she was making that kinda money, but I wouldn't wish this kinda hate on anyone either.
a few of you have compared her to Dan Brown -- I haven't read DaVinci Code but I strongly condemn it because I am a literary snob and refuse to spend time on books that read like a screen play. But I made my little brother read and he said it was "good" but agreed it read like a movie script.
Have any of you Da Vinci Code critics/fans read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco? Dan Brown is like Eco for Dummies -- both books deal with the occult science, secret societies, wolrd domination --- but Foucault's Pendulum is actually written for grown-ups!
Anyway -- if you've read both -- what are your impressions? Also, have nay of you read the Celestine Prophecy? Another book I can't stand. The two pages I read of DaVinci sound like it was wriiten by a similar hack of a writer.
Also, Kite Runner -- important work but the writing was awful. I think a lot people get a freebie for who they are (first afghan novelist wiritng about afghanistan) rather than the quality of their work (ok, the story was emotional but the writing was just garbage). I asked above whether Kaavya might fall into that category. I cannot imagine that a truly talented writer would plagerize. Down with Kaavya! i have no sympathy.
To balance out the negativity in this post, one of my all time favorite books is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry -- now that is powerful storytelling and quality writing. Several pages are wrinkled from big salty tears.
Cicatrix (#14), Bharati (#21), your snide remarks about the inevitability of cliche and repetition in genre fiction really irk me, insofar as you endorse a hierarchy in which literary fiction hovers at the apex -- despite the fact that "literary fiction" itself is a genre, and certainly one that neither Shakespeare nor Dickens would have recognized. Add to that the fact that these days, the label "literary fiction" gets slapped upon some of the sloppiest, most uninspired, pretentious, and painfully trite novels to ever exit the Great Publishing Halls of America, and I'd say that popular fiction is the blood and marrow of fiction today. Not surprising, really, when it has always produced the most popular, beloved, and enduring writers -- like those two aforementioned folks, S & D.
This could be for the better for her. The novel is worse than tubgirl. If I had produced such terrible writing and content, I'd *want* to be caught for plagiarism, and turn myself in for it even if innocent, just because it would be a step up from actually having written that drivel myself.
Cicatrix (#14), Bharati (#21), your snide remarks about the inevitability of cliche and repetition in genre fiction really irk me, insofar as you endorse a hierarchy in which literary fiction hovers at the apex
What is wrong with hierarchy? Are you telling me that Moby Dick is not a better novel than the Da Vinci Code?
-- despite the fact that "literary fiction" itself is a genre,
Says who? Literary fiction is not a genre, it is an approach to literature as an art form that rejects cliche and seeks to say things with freshness and an attention to language and form.
and certainly one that neither Shakespeare nor Dickens would have recognized.
Huh? Shakespeare and Dickens would not have recognised good literary art from bad?
Add to that the fact that these days, the label "literary fiction" gets slapped upon some of the sloppiest, most uninspired, pretentious, and painfully trite novels to ever exit the Great Publishing Halls of America,
What are you doing? Are you discriminating between good and bad writing - you mean you are....setting up a hierarchy in literature? *gasps of horror*
You elitist.
and I'd say that popular fiction is the blood and marrow of fiction today. Not surprising, really, when it has always produced the most popular, beloved, and enduring writers -- like those two aforementioned folks, S & D
So Shakespeare and Dickens being popular in their day means they were 'popular fiction' and not 'literary fiction'? Dan Brown is the inheritor of the mantle of Charles Dickens and not someone like Salman Rushdie or Vladimir Nabokov or Muriel Spark? All of whom are great literary artists as well as being popular with the reading public? I think you need to get back to me on this Simmie.
Espressa
I have read Eco's book, and loved it. It is a much more erudite book, with intense discussions on theology and philosophy, but a fundamentally similar plot: Templars and Freemasons being a secret society guarding documents which shake the foundations of Christianity.
The only difference is that Dan Brown's book is better timed, coming as it does after the unveiling of the Gnostic Gospels, whereas Eco's book was based on a completely fictional conspiracy theory.
That being said, I agree with you about books which are written with the movie in mind...
For Cicatrix:
More about the 'packaging' of Opal/Kaavya from GalleyCat.
abhi:taken aback by your statement:
If I were her I would think about falling back on medical school or something real quick.
Chick Pea, it was just humor. Most of the desis reading this (most of whom were once pre-med) know that medical school isn't a fallback. I was using subtle humor to compare the pressure she must have been under to do this sort of thing to the pressure Indian parents often put on their kids to go to med school.
espressa,
Da Vinci code did have piss poor writing, particularly the conversation between characters. It was popular because of the little puzzles and historical intrigue within it. The "non-fiction" parts of the book is what draws people in. Plus it is a quick read. I finished 80% on a flight from LA to DC.
I've considered the whole subconcious argument, but it hasn't convinced me. If a work inspired me to paraphrase so closely, I think I would know it.. unless it was a brothers grimm tale that I read as a kid 20ish years ago, or some kind of universal metaphor. If she read those books, she read them less than 5 years ago. And then, the similarities in the passages seems deliberately reworded in some parts, while the 170 specialty shops is pretty much a give-away.
Bear with me for a moment: If you were going to plagiarize, wouldn't you change the number (170) of "specialty shops"? And if the similarities end at reworded (though pretty unmistakenly - not just subconciously - paraphrased) passages, why take a few passages that probably don't even affect the plot? Those passages aren't even that great or special. I don't get it. Maybe, under pressure with school and this HUGE book deal, she hired someone to help write the book, and they wanted her to get caught for who-knows-what-reason. Maybe this is some kind of set-up. Everything seems so extreme and surreal - from the unusual half-mil signing to the downfall. I know it sounds crazy, but why else would she so obviously plagiarize inconsequential passages from Megan's pretty popular books?!? She has to be smarter than this, and that's why I feel there could be something else at play here.
If there is anything that goes unquestioned, this is a young woman who felt alot of pressure. I hope she can get this sorted out. There's still room to fulfill her goal of becoming an investment banker.
I can't believe she stole the "170 specialty stores later" clause verbatim. If you're going to plagiarize, at least change the numbers around! Every English major in the world knows that...
There's still room to fulfill her goal of becoming an investment banker.
That is the other thing. Why in the HELL would a high school senior go to college dreaming of investment banking? Have you ever met an IBer that wasn't burned out and hated that they worked 90 hours a week? This makes me even more suspicious :)
technophobicgeek -- just to clarify, while i loved Foucault's Pendulum, it took me three years to get through, flanked on both sides by encylopedias, and I still understood only about 12% of it. If you followed even half of the occult reference, I am AMAZED.
Abhi -- read Foucault's Pendulum. There's a LOT of arcane history and while you might, at first, be tempted to keep up, you should let it pass and just enjoy the soryline, imagery, and charaters. Its one of those books you can read again and again and always find somehting you didnt notice before.
self -- stop posting, go to class.
I can't believe she stole the "170 specialty stores later" clause verbatim. If you're going to plagiarize, at least change the numbers around! Every English major in the world knows that...
That's what makes me think that it's accidental. When I was in high school, writing papers, I would sometimes observe that I preserved too much of the original structure of a paraphrase. I noticed this b/c I went to cite the paraphrase, and could compare it to the original. My point is, especially at that age, it was too easy to accidentally retain information that you had no intention of transmitting, such as exact wording of your source.
abhi:taken aback by your statement:
If I were her I would think about falling back on medical school or something real quick.Chick Pea, it was just humor.
Have you ever met an IBer that wasn't burned out and hated that they worked 90 hours a week?
I'm hoping medical school IS a fallback for me. And my girlfriend's an IBer and hates her hours! Does anyone want to write a book about us? Plagiarism is welcomed.
That's what makes me think that it's accidental. When I was in high school, writing papers, I would sometimes observe that I preserved too much of the original structure of a paraphrase. I noticed this b/c I went to cite the paraphrase, and could compare it to the original. My point is, especially at that age, it was too easy to accidentally retain information that you had no intention of transmitting, such as exact wording of your source.
but why would you paraphrase if you're writing a non-fiction, creative novel??? you don't mine other novels for ideas. thats called plagerism.
That's what makes me think that it's accidental.
Especially if they are talking about the same New Jersey mall and it really does have 170 stores. Field trip anyone?
I am thinking of marketing a t-shirt that looks similar to the Opal Mehta cover except she'd be wearing a prison outfit and it would bear the words "Viswanathan is Innocent."
I do hope she gets invited to Oprah though. That would be the best ever.
Pooja's link in #45 is interesting to read - I had not read mention of 17th St Productions' involvement in any of the interviews with Kaavya. We may learn a lot more about how these companies work in general in the course of this story.
The plagiarism could well have resulted from the packaging company's approach. But - she was perfectly willing to take the credit for the book before the scandal broke.
but why would you paraphrase if you're writing a non-fiction, creative novel??? you don't mine other novels for ideas. thats called plagerism.
Creative works rarely spring fully blown from an author's head. There are a number of legitimate reasons why she might have been reading other authors work at the same time that she wrote her own. I suspect she did so to get the genre tone down, that she looked at other chick lit so that she could write in a similar way. That's kosher. Authors draw upon each other's work in a far more direct way than that.
Christopher Paolini started writing Eragon in his mid teens. He was also criticized of being derivative in his style, but was never accused of directly plagiarizing passages from other books.
Perhaps they should start a book plagiarism checker service like Turnitin :-)
Dayum...I guess I should wait awhile before sending my poignant adolescent tale to Random House, tentatively titled' "Tales of a Third-Grade Nothing" about an awkward Indian-American child, overshadowed by his precocious little brother, growing up in a quirky family in NYC. While the smoke clears, Ill go back to working on Are you there Lord Ganesh, Its Me Madhu.
Some time ago, I too caught a plagiarist red-handed.
M. Nam
There was definitely some plagiarizing going on here; You can see ALL the lifted passages here in the Crimson previous piece:
List of the MANY passages that were lifted.
This is a very unfortunate situation, and I'm really sad she went down this route. I'm not trying to knock her down; from the above black and white evidence, it looks like she did it to herself and got caught trying to pull a fast one.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=512965
SOME SIMILARITIES TO SECOND HELPINGS
TO BUY DIET COKES FROM
From page 67 of McCaffertys second novel: ...but in a truly sadomasochistic dieting gesture, they chose to buy their Diet Cokes at Cinnabon.
From page 46 of Viswanathans novel: In a truly masochistic gesture, they had decided to buy Diet Cokes from Mrs. Fields...
PINK TUBE TOP EMBLAZONED WITH A GLITTERY PLAYBOY BUNNY
From page 68 of McCaffertys second novel: Omigod! shrieked Sara, taking a pink tube top emblazoned with a glittery Playboy bunny out of her shopping bag.
From page 51 of Viswanathans novel: ...I was sick of listening to her hum along to Alicia Keys, and worn out from resisting her efforts to buy me a pink tube top emblazoned with a glittery Playboy bunny.
SHIRT ALERT
From page 88 of McCaffertys second novel: By the way, Marcus wore a T-shirt that said THURSDAY yesterday, and FRIDAY today.
From page 170 of Viswanathans novel: He was wearing an old, faded gray sweatshirt that said Tuesday on it. Except that today was Thursday.
Technorati.com ranks the search "opal Mehta" fourth and "kaavya" sixth today
I loved this book. OK, I am 37 and totally out of touch with popular culture AND I did not attend an Ivy League school either. I thought the book was "feel-good" in a way that didn't show a whole lot of depth, but to me, that's OK. Not every novel has to be serious, or great literature. This book is well-written and funny and entertaining; that's good enough for me. I certainly think this author has a lot of promise.
Not to be harsh...but she knocked herself down...
she took the money...
she lied...(that 170 lift is insulting)
she got caught...
The golden rule for writers whether high lit or chick lit is thou shalt not blatantly rip off..
..now i think I'll read 'A Fine Balance Again'...
yikes - the extra passage parallels are not helping whatever doubts I may have had. However, we still don't know who actually did steal the passages.... that is still open to debate.
Dayum...I guess I should wait awhile before sending my poignant adolescent tale to Random House, tentatively titled' "Tales of a Third-Grade Nothing" about an awkward Indian-American child, overshadowed by his precocious little brother, growing up in a quirky family in NYC. While the smoke clears, Ill go back to working on Are you there Lord Ganesh, Its Me Madhu.
Haha! I was thinking of writing the Halwa series: Super Halwa, Halwa-a-mania, and Double Halwa.
NOT CONSCIOUSLY: QUESTIONS FOR MS VISWANATHAN
Shes 18, a wannabe investment banker at Harvard. Her $500,000 book deal for How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life has set new standards for chic-lit novels.
Wasn't the original title How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got in?
Yes. But it gave the ending away, so we decided to change it to ...Got a Life.
What is a potential investment banker like you doing writing a book?
I love English and Economics (unlikely duo though they may be), so I'm just trying to explore as many of my passions as possible.
Does this change your career plans?
Not at all. I still hope to get a job as an investment banker on Wall Street.
Are you Opal Mehta?
Absolutely not! Superficially, Opal and I have a lot in common. We both go to Harvard, we're both Indian girls from NJ, our families drive the same cars. But the similarities end there.
How do you plan to get wild with that grand book advance you bagged?
I did seriously entertain the idea of spending all my money on a bright red Maserati.
Are you going to be a one-book wonder?
I hope not. I plan to continue writing throughout my life so you'll definitely be seeing at least one more book from me.
Isn't it a little precocious for an 18-year-old to be penning a chick-lit novel?
Probably not as much as a 30-year-old, but I think I've experienced enough to capture the angst and drama of high school.
Is this inspired by Bridget Jones' Diary?
Not consciously. The books aren't similar, except for their categorisation as chick-lit.
Opal Mehta got a life at the end of your book. Do you have one?
I like to think I have a life!
Do you have a boyfriend?
Not at the moment. I did in the fall.
By Payal Kapadia
I still like this girl. I take irrational likes or dislikes to people and they're hard to alter. I like Kaavya and I'm with Anna on being uncomfortable at people falling over themselves to celebrate her downfall. Shit when I was 17 or 18 everything I wrote was copied. In fact, it still is.
But a Maserati? The girl has lousy taste in cars.
On a related tip, despite being a bit out of it as of late, I've noticed quite a bit of action in the desi book world on both sides of the Atlantic. Whether any of these books turn out to be worth reading is another matter.
http://plagiarismpwn3d.ytmnd.com/
HOW hard can life be when you are 19, studying at Harvard, just released your debut novel which is the toast of literary circles and is most likely to be turned into a movie. Oh, before we forget, you are also paid $500,000 as advance? This is the real life fairy tale of young Kaavya Viswanathan, whose first book How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got A Life is causing quite a buzz in the American publishing circles.
How hard can life be? Ask a silly question...
Kaavya Viswanathan is a cheat.she wanted to work as an investment banker so that would be a +.
Well done- this was worth broaching. All the haters now suddenly turned Kaavya Lovers- you sort of suck.
Girls standing up for each other and all that, it's all a bs act.
Simmie (#41), I have nothing to say to you. Your arguement is specious at best, and thanks Dolores Haze, for blasting it away.
Many thanks for the link Pooja! You're so on top of this case ;)
I don't feel sorry for her at all, the similarities between the two books is too much to ignore. I'm not a hater or am jumping on the band wagon to bring her down, but as an artist, these violations of orginality are what make it so hard for us. You cannot borrow phrases or ideas from other works and pass them off as your own.
To be honest with you, I read some interviews with her and was a tab bit suspicious at her response to the bridget jones comparison. She just seemed a bit to defensive.
cicatrix, at your service. and thank you for this comment. you said it so perfectly.
you said it so perfectly.
you know, i just went through a mini-drama over on my Kaavya-post where some ass said something unforgivable which proved that they didn't know me. now i'm not saying that KV's situation is identical (i don't have damning, damaging evidence that i'm a potential liar hanging over my head), but, as someone who knows what it feels like to be judged unfairly (and told that i have to eat my tears b/c i "put myself out there"), i don't think it's wrong to cringe at the idea of deriving pleasure from another person's pain.
yes, there are thousands of struggling writers out there, but i'm a struggling writer, too, and i don't feel like throwing a "Kaavya got what she deserved!"-party. i'm not that insecure. the existence and tribulations of unrecognized talent doesn't make throwing stones at glass houses okay. i can't help but wonder-- how many people here have cheated on a test? a paper? lied on a resume? we're all a little guilty of something, to different degrees. i'm just waiting to see where KV falls on the continuum before i pronounce any judgments. if the stategery was good enough for oprah...
Is her literary career over?
A good publicist could spin this by saying that the work "was an unconscious homage to McCafferty and her interpretation of being a teenage girl in the United States," and then mention that Viswanathan had so "internalized the voice of 'Sloppy Firsts'--similar to how many young Americans internalize voices of popular culture, such as those presented in Laguna Beach, Gilmore Girls, etc.--that it became part of the American lens & literary vernacular by which she interpreted her Indian character, Opal Mehta"... After that, Viswanathan need only follow with praise for and an apology to McCafferty and then say "in hindsight I realize the book and experience is a far greater, ableit inadvertent, exploration of identity than ever imagined and obviously Ms. McCafferty deserves some credit for influencing that process."
Whatever happens, the book itself is dead but she still has a chance of establishing a career in writing, however, not in this genre or not without Little, Brown & Company shelling out some cash to get McCafferty's endorsement and commitment to not file suit (I doubt McCafferty even cares, her third book in this series is in hardcover and on the front table at Barnes&Nobles)... In the end, she's a kid, she made a mistake and deserves all the punishment and havoc, but she still took the time to write a [pseudo] novel which is more than most of her critics, myself included, have done. So, if she consciously plagiarized, she shouldn't be a writer but if she didn't, she shouldn't be discouraged from trying to write again.
From the March 22 Crimson article, this puntastic groaner:
Its hard to avoid tracing the similarities, though, and despite what Viswanathan has said, one must wonder, is Opal actually self-referentiala sort of Mehta-fiction? Where does its plot end and Viswanathans real life begin?
A N N A, just like Cicatrix I am not calling her a plagiarist. I am totally with you that Kaavya probably wrote something 'darker' which was considered not as commercial/marketable by her agent/editor/etc. Thus, her book was 'reshaped.'
There are some interesting publishing/marketing forces in the mix here, and I am very interested in seeing how this all plays out.
Her future is secure, this is proof-positive that she has what it takes to be an investment banker; a pathological liar with a history of white collar crime.
Hey Pooja, let us know if you here anything about this shadowy 17th Street Productions outfit before us. If they are the ones complicit it would be KV's Ace in Hole insofar as it would partially (but not fully) absolve her.
ANNA, with all respect, I think it's extremely generous of you to compare what you went through to the Kaavya situation. Your experience was not of your own choosing, you wrote about something that left you exposed and vulnerable, to help other women. This is a chick-lit novel written for fame and money.
And even then, I hope I'm not participating in a "Kaavya got what she deserved - party" as much as sticking to the notion that somethings cannot and should not be ignored or forgiven. We may have all committed errors in judgement, but writers put themselves out there when they are paid for their work. A close scrutiny of said work is part of the deal. Which is possibly (and please don't stone me for this, mutineers!) why blogging (unpaid) is held to a lesser standard that official journalism (paid.) It's all the more reason why journalistic lapses should be thoroughly criticized.
But i digress. I guess my point is not that it's right to crow over Kaavya's downfall, (which I may have done in jest before) but that, in all seriousness, it is right to expose the fallacy of overnight success.
Viswanathan might have plagiarism issues with more than McCafferty's books. In a review in the Harvard Crimson, there are two quotes from Viswanathan's book: "If from drink you get your thrill, take precautionwrite your will," and "All the dangerous drug abusers end up safe as total losers."
These phrases bear a striking resemblance to those found in a novel of Salman Rushdie's, Haroun and the Sea of Stories. In chapter 2, The Mail Coach, various road signs' texts are given. Two of the four rhyming ones are, "If from speed you get your thrill, take precaution--make your will," and "All the dangerous overtakers end up safe at undertaker's."
I don't know how original these phrases are -- it's possible that Rushdie found them in India, although no Indian I've spoken to remembers them. A google search does find some references to them, although mostly from Rushdie.
I haven't read Viswanathan's book, so I haven't verified her quotes.
given the description of the crab syndrome described in the link provided by JR, one can only imagine the glee with which those who fumed at her sudden success are celebrating her just-as-sudden downfall. what a horrible atmosphere to have at a college. the similarities though between the excerpts and the originals are troubling. never mind plagiarism, the "If from drink you get your thrill, take precautionwrite your will," and "All the dangerous drug abusers end up safe as total losers." don't even sound like they would come out of the mouth of an american republican conservative jock type. they sound very subcontinental english, like the road signs and examples one would find of indian english in bill bryson's "the story of english."
what a life learning experience to undergo at such a tender age. better it be now than later, if she has indeed plagiarised. and i'm really glad i never had to submit a resume for my undergrad applications. i don't think i even knew what a resume really was at that age.
WOW, from the front page of the NYTimes website right now: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/books/24cnd-book.html
dogday said :
A good publicist could spin this by saying that the work "was an unconscious homage to McCafferty and her interpretation of being a teenage girl in the United States," and then mention that Viswanathan had so "internalized the voice of 'Sloppy Firsts'--similar to how many young Americans internalize voices of popular culture, such as those presented in Laguna Beach, Gilmore Girls, etc.--
And then the NYT article says :
Calling herself a "huge fan" of Ms. McCafferty's work, Ms. Viswanathan added, "I wasn't aware of how much I may have internalized Ms. McCafferty's words." She also apologized to Ms. McCafferty and said that future printings of the novel would be revised to "eliminate any inappropriate similarities."...
I'm very impressed by dogday's accurate prediction.
More coverage at the Crimson: http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=512999 and http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=512997. The second story contains excerpts from the letter they obtained that was sent from Random House to Little, Brown.
I'm very impressed by dogday's accurate prediction.
So am I. Kudos Dogday. As I feared she has not come clean. In my opinion she is now digging a larger hole for herself by allowing her "spin doctors" to defuse the situation by this "internalize" nonsense. Let the mob have her now.
are we sure that this is philosophical abhi?
In my opinion she is now digging a larger hole for herself by allowing her "spin doctors" to defuse the situation by this "internalize" nonsense. Let the mob have her now.
;)
come ON, abhi...so she should be the ONE person who doesn't follow PR protocol? everyone spins. i spin. you spin. we all spin for ice cream.
Hey Abhi,
Alloy/17th Street isn't a "shadowy" outfit. It's the packager of pretty well-known, best-selling titles in the teen chick-lit market, including the Gossip Girl series, the A-List series, and the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. From my limited knowledge--a friend of mine works there--they often, but not always, develop a premise (think high-concept) in-house and farm out the work to writers with a particular "voice" which fits their MTVish style of books. I've known people who've ghostwritten books this way--it's a pretty sweet (read: $$) gig.
Ever since I read this book and read that Kaavya's agent sent chapters to a packaging company, I've been curious as to how the book was "written." I am sure tons will come out about Alloy's involvement over the next day or so and if I hear anything before you (highly unlikely. You guys are quick!), I'll be sure to post here.
P.
One is left with only two logical conclusions at the end of this:
1) She and/or her publishers are lying.
2) She and/or her publisher are incompetant.
#1 has been discussed to death here.
I've known some people who are incredible at memorizing. However, they weren't professional writers with blockbuster deals. If you're putting something out in the market, fair or not, it will get judged against material out there. Her editors, knowing how young she was, should have been editing, cleaning up mistakes. KV, publshing her first book, should have been far more diligent in not 'internalizing' anothers work. In either case, it doesn't bode well. ONLY way to get this off her back is come up with something groundbreaking and original. Her options are limited and depends on how her publisher will continue to spin this. Youth is no excuse, maybe a reason, but not an excuse when you're marketed as a young prodigy, equal to older/seasoned writers.
thanks, Dolores Haze. now, where's that Simmie?
I'm sorry for this Kaavya. Even is there was plagiarism, and not just inspiration. Seriously, how many of us can say we wrote every word of our term papers? People just do that kind of thing at her age.
are we sure that this is philosophical abhi?
You are right. That was probably Evil Abhi (I forgot to change the handle on the auto-form). This is what I'm talking about though. "Spinning" has become the rule rather than the exception. I am all for making an example out of her and every person who lies, cheats, or steals until we are shocked by it once again. If she had just admitted the truth that the pressure got to her I'd be writing something totally different right now. In America nobody accepts blame for anything anymore.
Seriously, how many of us can say we wrote every word of our term papers?
I did and I don't think I'm alone either. When I catch my students cheating I nail their ass to the wall so that all will learn and fear.
This really is a shame. I was beginning to admire this woman since there are few young desi writers. Does it really matter if the passages are similar? It's not copying but I haven't read her book (Although coincidentally I'm reading Sloppy Firsts at this moment). It would be a shame if she copied on purpose because it would show that she's not the real gifted writer that I thought her to be.
This is really really sad and disappointing regardless of the reason. I don't like to see a brown sista go down especially for writing.
But this just corroborates my reason to not read any South Asian influenced pop literature. I skimmed thru this particular book out of curiousity but I make it a point not to read anything written by south asian writers for one big reason. I don't want my writing to be influenced by it especially because I've been working on it for years and I'd hate to retain something in the back of my head from reading something I strongly relate to and then spitting it into my writing.
I have never read any of Helen Fielding's books or Candace Bushnell's writings or any other chick lit for that matter and I've had people tell me I write like her which makes me shudder and freak.
Oh yeah I read in the article how Dreamworks had purchased movie rights to her book. I can imagine her book as a movie (Even though I have yet to read it)but it would probably end up as a crappy movie that would only look interesting in trailers.
I don't think the examples of "plagiarism" are all that bad. It strikes me that she was more "inspired" by the original work than "copied" it. All the examples given are signifacantly different from the original, though one can see a simularity.
Bob Dylan and Doris Kearns Goodwin were much worse.
I have an idea i will pursue this as soon as i take next vacation I am going to plagarize stuff from penthouse forum and deboanir
and going to write "How Gopal Mehta F'ed a girl and got a bike"
Some of the reactions in the wake of the charges have ranged from flash cartoons to simple schadenfreude, but over at Metafilter (by way of Maud Newton), one of Viswanathan's college instructors, posting as "mowglisambo" comments on her time in his class: "I was surprised to learn she had written a book, as her writing was awful-- I had given her low grades on her papers. I feel bad for her, even though she was always falling asleep in section (as if you don't notice a snoozing person sitting at a conference table for ten). Plagiarizing from chick lit has to be some kind of double whammy against artistic integrity."
as if you don't notice a snoozing person sitting at a conference table for ten
if she was that exhausted, it only reinforces my contention that she did the borrowing unintentionally. being in college AND writing a book, even a fluffy one? tough. something has to give and usually, that's sleep. sleepy people make very serious mistakes.
also? that handle her instructor chose? sucks tampons.
I have never read any of Helen Fielding's books or Candace Bushnell's writings or any other chick lit for that matter and I've had people tell me I write like her which makes me shudder and freak.
you shouldn't shudder! No shame in those comparisons at all. I've read quite a bit of chick-lit, and the best writers of the genre such as Fielding (the first Bridget Jones. The second sucked) and Marianne Keyes rank among the most amusing writers out there. While chick-lit, almost by definition, cannot aspire to be literature in the grand canonical sense, it CAN be sharp, witty, and chock-full of acute social observations. If your emails. (blog?), and letters are like this, JoaT, I'd love to correspond with you all the time ;)
er.. just want to add that I'm in no way a literature snob and I'm quite the fan of 'mid-list' books. 'Chick-lit' that does aspire to more than escapism isn't classified as such, is what I meant.
It's not copying but I haven't read her book (Although coincidentally I'm reading Sloppy Firsts at this moment). It would be a shame if she copied on purpose because it would show that she's not the real gifted writer that I thought her to be.
If you haven't read her book, on what basis do you consider her a gifted writer?
Seriously, how many of us can say we wrote every word of our term papers?
ME.
the article in the morning's new york times makes it seem even more egregious. there are similarities in phrasings and devices between the two books that seem too contrived to be coincidental. interesting case unfolding here. i'm with cicatrix here, looks like there's been some straight-up plagiarizing though how much by whom, and how much from malice and how much from incompetence, remains to be discovered.
if she was that exhausted, it only reinforces my contention that she did the borrowing unintentionally. being in college AND writing a book, even a fluffy one?
Anna, if you contend that she should be forgiven and she will be/is being punished enough, I can concede that angelicAnna makes a fair argument. Unintentional though? No way. The examples that the Crimson laid out are too numerous and the NYTimes (I think?) reported that there are more examples coming. The only way this is unintentional is if the girl has a photographic memory able to reproduce entire passages from her subconscious almost verbatim. I can picture her reading Sloppy Second on her lap while typing her "own" novel into her laptop. It is the obvious intention and the subsequent denial/spin-doctoring that causes me and others to now call for blood.
here are similarities in phrasings and devices between the two books that seem too contrived to be coincidentalExactly, sid - unless she has some of that capote "94% recall" talent.
Nonetheless, a really good lawyer can probably easily make it seem coincidental. If it ever gets to that point.
i'm with cicatrix here, looks like there's been some straight-up plagiarizing though how much by whom, and how much from malice and how much from incompetence, remains to be discovered.
Ditto
also? that handle her instructor chose? sucks tampons.
WORD. I wouldn't trust anything that person says.
When you are handed such a deal, what a stupid thing to do! Why on earth plagiarize!
... Parikshit .....This brown sister needs our help..>>>>>
Dude, invoking color for everything suck like ass. WTF?
If we really hate racism, why do we bring it in every
conversation so gratuitously? Somehow this kind of a
language smells strongly of latent racism, which
we Indians are famous for. No, please dont give that fake
political consciousness BS, because there is none. Thank you.
Which "human evolution" class deals with "personal space" ? Must be some intelligent discussion on the intelligent design theory. That example clearly looks more like a copy, paste and replace-keyword job than any subconscious internalization.
JK's point about the similarity of phrases quoted in Crimson and the road slogans in Rushdie's Haroun and the sea of stories is very interesting. I noticed that in her book, Kaavya used acronyms like HOWGIH (How Opal will get into Harvard) and HOWGAL (How Opal will get a life). I vaguely remember recurring phrases being referred to by acronyms in Haroun as well.