After duplicated words, words of apology
Harvard writer says she 'internalized' an earlier novel
Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore accused of plagiarism in her debut novel, acknowledged yesterday that she used portions of another writer's book, but insisted the act was unconscious and unintentional. In a statement released by publisher Little, Brown & Co., Viswanathan apologized and said future printings will be revised to eliminate the similarities.
Viswanathan, 19, who had received a two-book contract worth $500,000, was accused of closely paralleling, and in some cases copying almost verbatim, sentences from ''Sloppy Firsts," a young-adult novel published in 2001.
''When I was in high school," Viswanathan said in her statement, ''I read and loved two wonderful novels by Megan McCafferty, 'Sloppy Firsts' and 'Second Helpings,' which spoke to me in a way few other books did. Recently, I was very surprised and upset to learn that there are similarities between some passages in my novel, 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,' and passages in these books."
While the plot of her book differs from McCafferty's, she said, ''I wasn't aware of how much I may have internalized Ms. McCafferty's words. . . . I can honestly say that any phrasing similarities between her works and mine were completely unintentional and unconscious. . . . I sincerely apologize to Megan McCafferty."
In a separate statement, Little, Brown publisher and senior vice president Michael Pietsch said: ''We consider this a serious matter and we are investigating it immediately." He added that Viswanathan is ''a decent, serious, incredibly hard-working writer and student, and I am confident that we will learn that any similarities in phrasings were unintentional."
The accusation, first reported Sunday on the Harvard Crimson's Web edition, came to light when one of McCafferty's readers contacted her and she contacted her publisher, Crown. ''After reading the book in question, and finding passages, characters, and plot points in common, I am hoping this can be resolved in a timely and responsible manner," McCafferty said yesterday. Stuart Applebaum, spokesman for Random House, the parent of Crown, said lawyers for both publishers are in discussions.
Viswanathan's agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh of the William Morris Agency, said yesterday that any plagiarism was not deliberate. ''I think she read books as a teenager and a fan, absorbed whatever she read over time," Walsh said. The passages ''became her own, unintentionally, she assumed they rightly belonged to her in her own mind. As a former teenager myself, I recall that spongelike ability to take popular culture and incorporate it into your own lexicon."
Viswanathan and her novel, which arrived in stores this month, have been the talk of the publishing world, partly because of the size of the contract for so young a writer -- she was 17 when she got it -- but also for the role a book packager played in developing the plot of a novel. Packagers are normally employed in specialized nonfiction books such as nature guides and picture books, and sometimes actually deliver finished books that bear a publisher's name more as a distributor.
In this case, Viswanathan's agent referred her to Alloy Entertainment because her original idea for a novel was considered too dark. The semicomic plot involves parents trying to develop a girl's social life so she'll get into Harvard. While Viswanathan said the plot was her idea, she acknowledged in a February interview with the Globe that Alloy had played a major role in fleshing out the concept.
Leslie Morgenstein, president of Alloy, which holds the copyright along with her, said by e-mail yesterday that his firm did not help Viswanathan with any of the actual writing. ''We helped Kaavya conceptualize and plot the book," he said. ''We are looking into the serious allegations before commenting further."
A few literary agents contacted yesterday by the Globe raised eyebrows at the packager's active role in conceptualizing the novel. ''We would never recommend to an author that they share copyright for something as minor as refining a concept," said Boston-area literary agent Doe Coover.
While the remedy in this case will depend on the extent of the duplication, and the degree to which both publishers accept Viswanathan's explanation, Boston copyright lawyer Joseph Steinfield called it ''a serious mistake, for sure. Publishers can do little but take an author's word for the authenticity and accuracy of a work. They rely on authors to be truthful and behave ethically, and if [Viswanathan] fell short in that regard, there will be a price to pay at least in terms of public criticism."
Harvard students were buzzing about the case yesterday.
''She is a great girl, her book is phenomenal, and everyone looks up to her and likes her," said sophomore Jayne Wolfson, a friend of the author.
Others were less supportive. ''If you have integrity as an author, why let a company put your book together?" said senior Luke Bauer. ''It seems so tainted to allow yourself to be steered like that."
Some wondered about the pressure of a big contract for an unfinished book, which Viswanathan received a month after arriving in Cambridge as a freshman. ''It's a high-pressure situation," said sophomore Kelly Faircloth. ''You give someone all this money, and there's all this pressure to develop this book. But that's not to say it's an excuse for plagiarism."
Said junior Victoria Chang: ''There are lots of people at Harvard under a lot of stress. Moral choices don't have to do with stress you are under."
Globe correspondent Catherine Elton contributed to this report. David Mehegan can be reached at mehegan@globe.com. 