Stolen Words: Forays into the Origins and Ravages of Plagiarism

Mallon (English, Vassar) is not the first to come out against plagiarism. A light-hearted look at famous cases from Coleridge to the television series "Falcon Crest". Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Mallon, who examined diaries in A Book of One's Own , here probes the opposite end of the literary spectrum: plagiarism. Although ably researched and enthusiastic and clever in tone, the book has an uneasy mix of topics which may preclude its finding an audience. With a close comparison of texts, Mallon discusses suspicious similarities between the works of Victorian novelist and international copyright champion Charles Reade and Frenchwoman Charles Reybaud, the writings of Jayme Sokolow and fellow academic Stephen Nissenbaum in the 1970s and '80s, and Anita Clay Kornfeld's 1980 generational novel Vintage and TV's Falcon Crest. Even though they've read about the case in the New York Times et al., publishing folk will undoubtedly be most attuned to the accusations against Jacob Epstein, who apologized in print for phrases apparently lifted from Martin Amis's The Rachel Papers and integrated into Epstein's 1979 Wild Oats. Mallon concludes that literary predators often are repeat offenders and society usually is timid about prosecuting their crimes. He warns: "To see the writer's words kidnapped, to find them imprisoned, like changelings, on someone else's equally permanent page, is to become vicariously absorbed by violation."
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Fine lines separate unconscious influence, adaptation, paraphrase, and downright theft by writers. In this scholarly and engaging look at the many aspects of unattributed use of others' writing, Mallon (English, Vassar) delves into cases famous and obscure, flagrant and doubtful, trying to identify the motives of the perpetrators while recounting the harm done victims copied from and the embarrassment and lame excuses that follow exposure. His book displays fine literary detective work. Besides discussing fiction and essays, Mallon reveals the seamy side of university scholarship, student term-paper services, television production, and recent political speeches. Does more of this go on than is generally recognized? With little else currently available in book form, this up-to-date study is firmly recommended.
- William A. Donovan, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.