More plagiarism at Harvard?
from the Harvard Crimson, Student’s Novel Faces Plagiarism Controversy:
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.”
In that example, McCafferty writes on page 6 of her first novel: “Sabrina was the brainy Angel. Yet another example of how every girl had to be one or the other: Pretty or smart. Guess which one I got. You’ll see where it’s gotten me.”
Viswanathan writes on page 39 of her novel: “Moneypenny was the brainy female character. Yet another example of how every girl had to be one or the other: smart or pretty. I had long resigned myself to category one, and as long as it got me to Harvard, I was happy. Except, it hadn’t gotten me to Harvard. Clearly, it was time to switch to category two.”
UPDATE:
On April 27, 2006, breitbart, using AP reported:
A teen novel containing admittedly borrowed material has been pulled from the market. Author Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard University sophomore, had acknowledged that numerous passages in "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" were lifted from another writer.
Publisher Little, Brown and Company, which had signed Viswanathan to a reported six-figure deal, said in a statement Thursday that it had notified retail and wholesale outlets to stop selling copies of the book, and to return unsold copies to the publisher.
Viswanathan has apologized repeatedly for lifting material from Megan McCafferty, whose books include "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings," saying she had read McCafferty's books voraciously in high school and unintentionally mimicked them.
But McCafferty's publisher, the Crown Publishing Group, labeled Viswanathan's actions "literary identity theft" and had urged Little, Brown, which initially said her novel would remain on sale, to withdraw the book.
In a statement issued soon after Little, Brown's announcement, Crown said it was "pleased that this matter has been resolved in an appropriate and timely fashion" and also praised McCafferty for "her grace under pressure throughout this ordeal." McCafferty, in a statement released by Crown, said she was "not seeking restitution in any form" and hoped to put the affair behind her.
***
It is important to note that in a world with software to detect plagiarism, this copying was identified by consumers. The article stated:
Similarities to McCafferty's books, which include "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings," were first spotted by readers. They alerted McCafferty, who in turn notified her publisher. Crown alleges that at least 40 passages "contain identical language and/or common scene or dialogue structure."
The article mentions another plagiarism event at Harvard: Other books over the years have been withdrawn because of plagiarism allegations, notably Doris Kearns Goodwin's "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys," which was pulled in 2002. However, the article does NOT mention plagiarism events at the Harvard Law School, including that involving Laurence Tribe. No word on whether Dershowitz has mentioned a culture of plagiarism that pervades novels about teenage girls.
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.”
In that example, McCafferty writes on page 6 of her first novel: “Sabrina was the brainy Angel. Yet another example of how every girl had to be one or the other: Pretty or smart. Guess which one I got. You’ll see where it’s gotten me.”
Viswanathan writes on page 39 of her novel: “Moneypenny was the brainy female character. Yet another example of how every girl had to be one or the other: smart or pretty. I had long resigned myself to category one, and as long as it got me to Harvard, I was happy. Except, it hadn’t gotten me to Harvard. Clearly, it was time to switch to category two.”
UPDATE:
On April 27, 2006, breitbart, using AP reported:
A teen novel containing admittedly borrowed material has been pulled from the market. Author Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard University sophomore, had acknowledged that numerous passages in "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" were lifted from another writer.
Publisher Little, Brown and Company, which had signed Viswanathan to a reported six-figure deal, said in a statement Thursday that it had notified retail and wholesale outlets to stop selling copies of the book, and to return unsold copies to the publisher.
Viswanathan has apologized repeatedly for lifting material from Megan McCafferty, whose books include "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings," saying she had read McCafferty's books voraciously in high school and unintentionally mimicked them.
But McCafferty's publisher, the Crown Publishing Group, labeled Viswanathan's actions "literary identity theft" and had urged Little, Brown, which initially said her novel would remain on sale, to withdraw the book.
In a statement issued soon after Little, Brown's announcement, Crown said it was "pleased that this matter has been resolved in an appropriate and timely fashion" and also praised McCafferty for "her grace under pressure throughout this ordeal." McCafferty, in a statement released by Crown, said she was "not seeking restitution in any form" and hoped to put the affair behind her.
***
It is important to note that in a world with software to detect plagiarism, this copying was identified by consumers. The article stated:
Similarities to McCafferty's books, which include "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings," were first spotted by readers. They alerted McCafferty, who in turn notified her publisher. Crown alleges that at least 40 passages "contain identical language and/or common scene or dialogue structure."
The article mentions another plagiarism event at Harvard: Other books over the years have been withdrawn because of plagiarism allegations, notably Doris Kearns Goodwin's "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys," which was pulled in 2002. However, the article does NOT mention plagiarism events at the Harvard Law School, including that involving Laurence Tribe. No word on whether Dershowitz has mentioned a culture of plagiarism that pervades novels about teenage girls.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 8:03 PM
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