In 2006, two years after Facebook’s founding and shortly before the radical degradation of the books business owing to corporate consolidation and the age of the internet giants, a Harvard sophomore was accused of plagiarism—not in a college paper but in a young-adult novel, one that the student, Kaavya Viswanathan, had scored a widely publicized half-million-dollar publishing deal to write.
It was an astonishing rise and fall. What began with mythology building publicity, budding stardom, and energetic sales rapidly evaporated in scandal after the Harvard Crimson published a story finding that chunks of Viswanathan’s book, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, appeared to be lifted from entries in a YA series by Megan McCafferty that had come out a few years earlier. (Also identified were passages that seemed to pull from other authors, including Meg Cabot and Salman Rushdie.) In a televised interview with Katie Couric, Viswanathan acknowledged the similarities but claimed any cribbing was unintentional. The situation spiraled. Further printings of the book were ceased, a planned film adaptation was scuttled, and Viswanathan’s public reputation was left in ruins. When her parents perished five years later, the headline from Gawker, which had extensively covered the mess, read “Parents of Harvard’s Chick-Lit Plagiarist Die in Plane Crash.”
This story is from the September 12 - 26, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 12 - 26, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Good One: Ramy Youssef
The comedian on the first Israel-Palestine joke he wrote after 10/7.
Not Your Average Heartthrob
Nicholas Galitzine can play himbo, Prince Charming, and Gen-Z queer iconsometimes all at once. Now, he's coming
Northern Mexico, Just Below Canal
Corima has potential-and excellent tortillas
A Tree House for Two Architects
Phu Hoang and Rachely Rotem built the indoor-outdoor \"Mini Tower One\" extension of their Carroll Gardens home.
THE ERIC ADAMS SMASH - AND - GRAB
It's a brazenly transactional era of government here in New York City.| FRANK CARONE is its master practitioner.
JEFF ZUCKER'S FLEET STREET MISADVENTURE
The former CNN and NBC boss wants a new media empire. Is that even possible in 2024?
MECHANISMS of CONTROL
Andrew Huberman has attracted millions of acolytes by preaching self-discipline and healthy lifestyle habits. But those closest to him suggest there is a darker side to his appeal.
Streetscape: Mark Jacobson
Charging Ahead Baruch Herzfeld wants to end the rash of e-bike battery fires.
461 MINUTES WITH...Hanif Abdurraqib
The MacArthur-grant winner's unclassifiable new book is as idiosyncratic as the author himself.
Neighborhood News: The 'SNL' Guys' Ferry Isn't Adrift
Colin Jost and Pete Davidson's architect has a real plan.