Fangirling over a plagiarist?
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“If you’re looking for an explanation for how 40 passages from Megan McCafferty’s “Sloppy Firsts” ended up in Kaavya Viswanathan’s “Opal Mehta” well…you aren’t going to get an answer here.
I agree with other reviewers who found this first interview with Viswanathan in 15 years extremely disappointing and not at all illuminating. If Viswanathan didn’t intentionally plagiarize, then who did? “I guess we’ll never know the truth,” Patrick says. And why not? PATRICK DIDN’T ASK. At another point, someone says something to the effect of, “We’ll never know if someone at Alloy gave McCafferty’s books to Viswanathan.” Again, we’ll never know because PATRICK DIDN’T ASK. Patrick praises KV for her candor, but it seemed clear to this listener that Viswanathan the lawyer definitely set some ground rules that the most important questions were the ones she wouldn’t answer.
Even worse for a respected critic and reviewer like Patrick? Her reluctance to call the large scale theft of another author’s work what it was--plagiarism. Not "alleged." Plagiarism. And contrary to the "bombshell" in the interview, Harvard's internal investigation was about Kaavya’s *academic* work while a student. It did not absolve her from the plagiarism in Opal Mehta because that was outside Harvard's purview. (Another investigation went into articles she wrote for a local newspaper, which also found no plagiarism.)
Viswanathan talks about “incentives” in publishing. The incentives here are clear. Patrick got a “scoop” and Viswanathan got to take the first step in her redemption tour—one that will culminate with the inevitable press cycle for the publication of her literary adult novel in progress.
I expected better from Patrick, a respected book critic and interviewer. I will not be listening to any future episodes.”Read full review »
🌠🌈🌌🌄🌊🗻🌅🌋🗾 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/23/22
More reviews of Missing Pages
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“How is a podcast about publishing so poorly written and edited?”
Big Bad Wolfman Jack via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
11/10/23
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“I understand the angle of the episode on Kaavya Viswanthanan: the author was really just a figurehead for a YA book project cobbled together by others. While that is worth exploring, the episode glosses over the sheer amount of brazen plagiarism in “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed” and the author’s...”Read full review »
Historian 1766 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/06/22
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“It disappoints me how far someone can still run with lies in a professional setting. Since this has been uncovered before,readers would assume there would be more fact checking safeguards in place. Still, I found the episode very interesting, and look forward to more “Missing Pages”.”
likz2read via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
08/19/22
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