Unpublished Novel by Amy Bishop Features a Scientist Afraid of Tenure Denial

"Amazon Fever" is the title of a draft novel by Amy Bishop, who is accused of killing three fellow biology professors at the University of Alabama at Huntsville last week. The draft, obtained Wednesday by The Boston Globe, features a female scientist fearful of not getting tenure, and has a researcher called James Anderson, the real name of Ms. Bishop's husband. In real life, Ms. Bishop was upset at being denied tenure; in fiction, her heroine is depressed "with her career breathing its last." Earlier, the Globe reported that investigators had found another draft novel on Ms. Bishop's computer in 1993, when they suspected she was involved in a mail-bomb case. In that novel, a woman wanted to become a great scientist to atone for killing her brother. Ms. Bishop shot and killed her own brother, in a reported accident, in 1986.

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Comments

1. uah_alum - February 18, 2010 at 11:32 am

Could the Chronicle please use the sorrect name for the university involved? It is "The University of Alabama in Huntsville" not "at Huntsville". Thanks -- UAH Grad

2. supertatie - February 18, 2010 at 05:12 pm

"accused of killing"???

I love this. 20 people in the room saw her do it, and we're treating her as the "alleged" killer?

Ridiculous.

The article should say, "Amy Bishop, the faculty member who gunned down three colleagues at a faculty meeting..."

3. 11211250 - February 19, 2010 at 08:50 am

This is really creepy... and then we have the loony who crashed into the IRS offices in Austin yesterday. America is wound a little too tight right now. What's pushing these people over the edge?

4. mubbs - February 19, 2010 at 09:59 am

Maybe instead of writing a novel, she should have done some research and published more. hah. yeah that's cold hearted...

5. johntoradze - February 19, 2010 at 01:19 pm

I think the plane crash guy might have had a brain tumor. That would explain his sudden switch to bizarre aggression together with the "storm in my head" comments in his letter.

6. ajburnett - February 20, 2010 at 12:54 am

This woman sought fodder for her novels through her real-life experiences. So, which came first? The ideas for her novels or her actual behavior?