"Steal This Text": Plagiarism in Our Brave New (Digital) World

Oh, that cut-and-paste function is so tempting! Waldo Jaquith (yes, he's my son) was reviewing a book for The Virginia Quarterly Review and noticed jarring variations in the writing style.

Further investigation revealed equally jarring similarities between several Wikipedia entries and the author's text.

The author is Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. The book, in a delicious irony, is entitled Free: The Future of a Radical Price.

The ensuing hoo-ha is available for your perusal at the VQR blog.

As you'll see from the comments posted there, the defense for this behavior is essentially: Hey, this stuff is available for free online, what's the big deal?

It is in that freewheeling spirit that I now present my brand-new novel, Moby Dick.

White Elephants on Parade in Charlottesville

The tenth annual Charlottesville LLL White Elephant Exchange was held yesterday at the Gracious Home of writer and documentary filmmaker Elizabeth Howard. Some twenty Literary Ladies were in attendance. As the exquisite wrappings fell away, we were left with many truly wretched offerings. (Why, this is the best holiday EVER!)

My personal favorite was Susie Langenkamp's new "pump" soap.

Hearty congratulations to our first- and second-place winners, Laura Rydin and Sally Honenberger!