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At Least she Didn’t lie to Oprah...
24-Apr-2006
Written by: Carrie Ng
A Harvard undergraduate becomes the new target of literary skepticism.
James Frey may have a follower by the name of Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard undergrad. Her novel ''How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," which reportedly landed her a $500,000 book deal, resembles in more than just terms of flattery, the novel ''Sloppy Firsts," published by a division of Random House Inc., written by Megan McCafferty. The “Opal Metha” reportedly has several notably similarities in comparison with “Sloppy Firsts,” including a 14-word sequence that appears in both books.
McCafferty has addressed the issue as such, ''After reading the book in question, and finding passages, characters, and plot points in common, I do hope this can be resolved in a manner that is fair to all of the parties involved.”
However, Viswanathan’s team has not responded so amicably. Almost all attempts of contact have been ignored by the Viswanathan team. The only response given by Viswanathan herself, when asked by the Harvard Crimson about the similarities was, ''I have no idea what you are talking about."
There is no denying the similarities. Read the passages for yourselves.
The following is an excerpt from “Sloppy Firsts”: “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."
This next passage is from “Opal Mehta” : “Moneypenney 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."
Viswanathan may have inadvertently borrowed from “Sloppy Firsts.” The lawyers will be the arbiters of the intentions of the similarities between the two novels.
Talk to other readers about this story.
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