Aaron Greenspan dispatched a letter to Ben Mezrich’s publishers asserting approximately 25 alleged similarities between Mezrich’s new book THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES and Greenspan’s self-published AUTHORITAS: One Student’s Harvard Admissions and the Founding of the Facebook Era. Greenspan says “he may seek a court injunction,” but at the least he wants attention–“not only to what he called copyright infringement, but also to what Greenspan says is mischaracterization and embellishment of the story behind the founding of Facebook,” the Boston Globe writes. Doubleday says in a statement, “Greenspan’s chief complaint seems to be that Ben Mezrich does not endorse his view that […]
Authors
Obscure Teen Author Says She'll Sue Meyer for Plagiarism In Breaking Dawn
California attorney J. Craig Williams says he will file a copyright infringement suit on behalf of his client Jordan Scott against Hachette Book Group and Stephenie Meyer, alleging that her bestselling BREAKING DAWN copies from Scott’s 2006 book THE NOCTURNE. Williams sent HBG a “cease and desist” letter on July 13 that just happened to land on TMZ.com. In the letter, which says it is responding correspondence from HBG general counsel Carol Fein Ross from last December, asks the publisher to “compensate my client for her damages.” Yes Williams “said Scott does not plan to seek monetary damages,” to the […]
People: McMurtry's Novel Might Be His Last; Sharma-Jensen Takes Buyout; Blessing Joins Inkwell
Larry McMurtry, 73, tells the Dallas Morning News in advance of the release of his new novel RHINO RANCH later this month: “I don’t think I can write fiction any more. I think I’ve used it up over 30 novels. That’s a lot of novels.” He adds, “Most great novels are written by people between 40 and 60, or 35 and 60,” he says. “Not too many great novels are written by people over 75. Hardly any. Maybe Tolstoy.”DMN Another longtime newspaper books editor (and also NBCC board member) Geeta Sharma-Jensen at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is taking a buyout and […]
Judge Rules Will of Jack Kerouac's Mother, Controlling His Estate, Was Forged
A Florida judge has ruled that the will of Gabrielle Kerouac, the mother of the late author who inherited his estate in 1969, was a forgery, citing testimony from handwriting experts and doctors. Gabrielle had passed the literary estate to Kerouac’s third wife, Stella, now also deceased, who gave everything to her siblings in 1990. The suit was brought by the author’s reportedly impoverished nephew Paul Blake Jr., who took over the original action filed by Kerouac’s estranged (and now also deceased) daughter Jan in 1994. It’s not clear whether the new court ruling will bring Blake a share of […]
People and Announcements
Sadly, the UK press is reporting that Frank McCourt‘s battle with skin cancer is near the end, citing a friend who indicates he “has deteriorated dramatically.” McCourt is reported to have been “transferred to a hospice at the weekend.”Belfast Telegraph The Observer reports that VS Naipaul has left longtime agent Gillon Aitken for Aitken’s one-time partner, Andrew Wylie. Wylie writes, “I think Vidia felt that it was, simply, time to move on. I can’t say with any authority what considerations were involved, but I do believe there is work to be done on the foreign rights side, as well as […]
Grisham to Write Spec Screenplay About Four Sailors Who Claim Were Wrongly Convicted
The novelist is working on a screenplay about Virginia’s Norfolk Four. “It’s the most egregious case of wrongful conviction I’ve seen, and I travel around the country listening to stories about these cases,” Grisham says. He expects to have a draft finished by the fall, but for now he is writing it on spec. Tom Wells and Richard Leo published a book on the case, THE WRONG GUYS: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four, last November with the New Press. Grisham said he hoped the project would help the three imprisoned sailors. “You can’t forget about those guys. I’m […]