Comments on: Final Mehta Thoughts (Probably Final Anyway)

By: Booksquare

Booksquare — Fri, 05 May 2006 03:37:57 +0000

Walt — I think the scandal of this story is that there were a lot of adults (or, as I like to call them, grown-ups) who were deeply involved in the packaging of this whole scene. It’s not just the story. It’s not just the advance. It’s not just the plagiarism. Even if I were to believe that Viswanathan wrote this book (unconscious plagiarism and all), there are other scandals. I don’t think she did write it alone. I think there were grown-ups who took words and thoughts that she wrote and massaged them into a story.

You know novels (and novelists). This whole thing reeks — especially when you dig deeper. I’m not suggesting we have an innocent child here, but I’m thinking we have a lot of culpable adults.

By: Walt

Walt — Thu, 04 May 2006 15:26:02 +0000

The second (free to read) link in that last post was supposed to read:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/27/features/opal.php#

By: Walt

Walt — Thu, 04 May 2006 15:23:16 +0000

The little wrinkle in the whole affair that I thought most interesting was the bit where Kaavya Viswanathan’s original writing that was sent to the Gluck at the William Morris Agency was actually rejected. It was only then that Kaavya went back and started the writing sample that would become the now famous book in question.

Viswanathan’s parents sent her to a private college counselor, Katherine Cohen of IvyWise, who is also the author of a book on writing college applications. Cohen showed some of Viswanathan’s writing to Suzanne Gluck, her agent at the William Morris Agency.

Viswanathan said that she had written a piece in the vein of “The Lovely Bones,” the 2002 best seller by Alice Sebold, but that Gluck thought that it was too dark. “They thought it would be better if I did a lighter piece. They thought that was more likely to sell.”
–New York Times Select
-also republished here

So, first she wrote a book in a completely different genre, and then magically started writing a book with the hook that got a two book $500,000 contract and a movie deal. While I haven’t seen any notices to prove things, I’d suggest that someone “told” Kaavya which kind of book to then submit in order to get it sold.

I don’t believe Kaavya came up with the idea of the topic of her all by herself.