The Problem With Plagiarism

In 2004, 17-year-old Kaavya Viswanathan signed a two-book deal with Little, Brown on the basis of a few drafted chapters and an outline for a novel. Most 17-year-olds are not capable of writing a novel, and as it turned out Viswanathan, who entered Harvard soon after, was no exception. She hired a “book-packaging company” to help map out the plot and she plagiarized shamelessly from several sources, including works by Salman Rushdie and bestselling author Megan McCafferty. Her book, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, was published in 2006, but its anticipated big splash came as a belly flop. Some of her plagiarism was exposed by the Harvard Crimson, and soon other media took note. The publisher first announced it would reprint the book with the bits heisted from McCafferty redacted, but before long more plagiarism charges came to light. The book was soon pulped and Viswanathan’s contract cancelled. Plans to develop it into a movie were shelved. Whatever Viswanathan does in the future, she will have to deal with the taint of her plagiarism.