Publisher withdraws Kaavya book

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Suhasini Haidar

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New York: Little, Brown & Co., the publishers of Kaavya Viswanathan's controversial How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life have decided to withdraw all editions of the book from stores.

This move comes just days after the author Viswanathan confessed to have unintentionally copying lines from another writer's work in her debut novel.

Publisher Little, Brown and Company, which had signed Viswanathan to a reported six-figure deal, said in a statement Thursday that it had notified retail and wholesale outlets to stop selling copies of the book, and to return unsold inventory to the publisher for full credit.

Though the book is still available in India, Penguin which is distributing the book here is waiting for a notice from Time Warner UK before recalling copies from stores.

Viswanathan, 19, has apologized repeatedly for lifting material from Megan McCafferty's books Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, saying she had read McCafferty's books voraciously in high school and unintentionally mimicked them.

However, McCafferty's publisher, the Crown Publishing Group, labeled Viswanathan's actions "literary identity theft" and had urged Little, Brown, which initially said her novel would remain on sale, to withdraw the book.

In a statement issued soon after Little, Brown's announcement to withdraw the book, Crown said it was "pleased that this matter has been resolved in an appropriate and timely fashion" and also praised McCafferty for "her grace under pressure throughout this ordeal."

McCafferty, in a statement released by Crown, said she was "not seeking restitution in any form" and hoped to put the affair behind her.

"The past few weeks have been very difficult, and I am most grateful to my readers for offering continual support," she said. "In my career, I am, first and foremost, a writer. So I look forward to getting back to work and moving on, and hope Ms Viswanathan can too."

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life came out in March with a first printing of 100,000, sold moderately and was No 96 on the Amazon.com best seller list Thursday night. DreamWorks has already acquired film rights.

Similarities to McCafferty's books were first spotted by readers. They alerted McCafferty, who in turn notified her publisher. Crown alleges that at least 40 passages "contain identical language and/or common scene or dialogue structure."

Born in Madras, India, Viswanathan and her family immigrated to Scotland when she was 3.

They moved again when she was 12 and landed in Millburn, New Jersey. In an Associated Press interview held before the scandal broke, she cited such literary writers as Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, but also confided, her face reddening, "I really like trashy romance novels."

She loved to write and showed a few short stories to her high school college counselor when she was applying to Harvard. The counselor, an author, was impressed, and showed the work to her agent.

Viswanathan was eventually signed on by Little, Brown, thanks in part to 17th Street Productions, a book packager that encouraged her to use a lighter, more conversational tone and shares the copyright to her novel.

Both Viswanathan and Little, Brown have said all the writing in "Opal Mehta" is hers.

"When I sat down to write my novel, my only intention was to tell the story of Opal," she said in a statement earlier this week. "I was so surprised and horrified when I found these similarities."

Viswanathan's novel tells the story of Opal, a hard-driving teen from New Jersey who earns straight A's in high school but who gets rejected from Harvard because she forgot to have a social life.

Opal's father concocts a plan code-named HOWGAL (How Opal Will Get A Life) to get her past the admissions office.

McCafferty's books follow a heroine named Jessica Darling, a New Jersey girl who excels in high school but struggles with her identity and longs for a boyfriend. McCafferty, a former editor at Cosmopolitan, has a new novel out, Charmed Thirds.

Viswanathan's fall is stunning, but not necessarily fatal.

In 1980, debut author Jacob Epstein acknowledged plagiarizing Martin Amis' The Rachel Papers for his novel Wild Oats.

Epstein moved on to Hollywood and was quickly forgiven, his writing credits including Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law.

(With inputs from Associated Press)