The story of Kaavya Viswanathan, the young Harvard sophomore who tripped up on her way to literary super stardom by accusations of plagiarism, is well known by now to the readers. Viswanathan’s book, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life contains several passages which appear to have been lifted from another popular writer of teen stories, Megan F. McCafferty. Her plight has been covered by all major US and Indian newspapers, TV news and even Nightline. South Asian blogs have been agog with discussions. Her meteoric but short lived fame and subsequent disgrace come close on the heels of a similar fate that met James Frey’s concocted "memoirs" and this makes one wonder how many more young "stars" are waiting in the wings to be exposed.
While there is a lot of opportunity here for finding faults with Kaavya Viswanathan, her parents and the horror stories about overachieving, super ambitious parents pushing their bright kids into the limelight, one must take a clear eyed look at the broader culture that worships at the altar of stardom and is eager to manufacture freakish prodigies out of talented youngsters. It is also important to remember that this is not an exclusively Indian/Asian story. Asian parents, who have supplanted Jewish mothers in the national discussion about pushiness, are well known for being overly invested in their kids’ success. Their focus until now, is mainly on academics (starting with Spelling Bee in grade school) and the Ivy League. Parents of all ethnicities are capable of the same obsession with stardom – in athletics, music, movies and fashion. They can create the same pressure cooker of ambition, anxiety and fear of failure in their children’s minds. The pitfalls are identical for all on whom media driven success is bestowed at a tender age. Athletes signed up for mega bucks out of high school, child beauty queens, teenage super models and movie stars and other "golden geese" who carry not just the burden of their own talent and ambition on their young shoulders but also the aspirations of the adults are them, are all equally vulnerable.
I have refrained from writing about this matter until now because I wanted to find out a bit more before I put forth my own impressions. Today I came across the best balanced take on this sordid affair in an article on Slate via Amardeep Singh. In the end, it is a rather "Sad Sack" story of relentless striving for success which sets one up for slips and falls. I hope Viswanathan will be able to put this behind her (she will need enormous fortitude of mind and soul) and move on to a more "normal" life. I wonder if facing so much notoriety, she will be able to continue on in Harvard to finish the rest of her undergard years. After reading about the workings of the publishing industry and the formula to churn out bestsellers, one has to wonder if Viswanathan was the only plagiarist here. She may have a "real" bestseller on her hands if one day she decides to reveal the tawdry birthing process of her dubious little piece of "literary" effort to the world. But she may be contractually obliged to keep her mouth shut.
Update: Little,Brown & Co., publisher of Viswanathan’s book has decided to pull her book off the shelves. All unsold copies are to be returned to the publisher.
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