The publisher of a Harvard University sophomore’s debut novel that was first hailed for its quality and then condemned for its plagiarism announced late Thursday that it was withdrawing the book from the market. According to an article in today’s Washington Post, the publisher took the unusual step to deal with an avalanche of bad publicity over Kaavya Viswanathan’s How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, and the student agreed to the decision. The novelist whose work was lifted said she considered the matter closed.
The student initially said she had unintentionally copied passages from the earlier work but later apologized (The Chronicle, April 24 and April 25).
