Harvard student’s novel pulled from stores; questions remain
The future of a “chick-lit” novel by a Harvard University sophomore is, for now, a mystery.
Kaavya Viswanathan’s highly publicized “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life” has been pulled from the market, brought down by acknowledged borrowings from fellow author Megan McCafferty.
But publisher Little, Brown and Company’s decision, announced Thursday, leaves some questions unresolved.
Just weeks after the book was released with a first printing of 100,000 and plenty of media attention, Little, Brown issued a statement that “all editions” would be pulled from store shelves and that retailers had been asked to return unsold copies for “full credit.”
The publisher has said that “Opal Mehta” would be revised, but in its statement did not refer to a new edition.
Little, Brown also had no immediate comment on what would be done with the audio book and whether Viswanathan will have to return her advance. She has a two-book contract, reportedly worth six figures, and a film deal with DreamWorks that may also be in doubt.
Viswanathan, 19, has apologized repeatedly to McCafferty, saying she had read McCafferty’s books voraciously in high school and unintentionally mimicked them.
But McCafferty’s publisher, the Crown Publishing Group, believed Viswanathan guilty of “literary identity theft” and urged Little, Brown to withdraw the book.
McCafferty, in a statement released by Crown, said she was “not seeking restitution in any form” and hoped to put the affair behind her.
Phone messages left with Viswanathan were not returned.
“Opal Mehta” came out in March, and sold moderately, although the book’s imminent withdrawal could make it a collector’s item: It was No. 96 on the Amazon.com best seller list Thursday night and had jumped to No. 10 as of Friday afternoon. A first edition, apparently unsigned, was being offered on eBay for $79.
The novel tells the story of Opal, a hard-driving teen from New Jersey who earns straight A’s in high school but is rejected from Harvard because she forgot to have a social life. Her father concocts a plan to get her past the admissions office.
McCafferty’s books follow a heroine named Jessica Darling, a New Jersey girl who excels in high school but struggles with her identity and longs for a boyfriend.
Similarities to McCafferty’s books, which include “Sloppy Firsts” and “Second Helpings,” were first spotted by readers. They alerted McCafferty, who then notified her publisher. Crown alleges that at least 40 passages “contain identical language and/or common scene or dialogue structure.”
Viswanathan’s misdeeds could be blamed on inexperience, but literary theft is not only for the very young.
Doris Kearns Goodwin was in her 30s when started working on “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” and took large blocks of text from author Lynne McTaggart. Stephen Ambrose was past 60 when caught stealing for “The Wild Blue.”
And Viswanathan’s fall is not necessarily fatal. In 1980, debut author Jacob Epstein acknowledged plagiarizing Martin Amis’ “The Rachel Papers” for his novel “Wild Oats.” Epstein found forgiveness in Hollywood, where his writing credits include “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law.”