"How Opal Mehta Got Kissed....."
As someone who's starting B school this Fall, the Harvard name always catches my attention (well any top B school name for that matter). Throw in a name like "Kaavya Viswanathan" and my interest is piqued.
Kaavya arrived at Harvard as a freshman in September 2004, and as a 17 year old landed a .5 million dollar book deal leading to the oh so juicily titled book: 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life' (due out in April).
Michael Pietsch, the head of the publishing company says: "I've been in this business since 1978, and it's my first experience signing up an author in her teens; in fact, with several teen years to go." There's enough early buzz and interest for at least a 75,000-copy first printing.
That's pretty impressive. The idea of writing a book about one's B school experience or any kind of school/college experience for that matter is not that original. Quite a few people have thought of that. Heck, I have thought of that! There are even a couple of good books out there related to this. I can see a publisher going for something like that since there seems to be a definite niche for that kind of litrature.
But for a publisher to go out on a limb and sign up a 17 year old kid to write a work of fiction speaks volumes for the kind of talent this girl must have, not to mention the fact that the publisher is even willing to take such a risk. Read the entire article here
(and of course I couldn't resist sending in this story on the SM tipline)
Kaavya arrived at Harvard as a freshman in September 2004, and as a 17 year old landed a .5 million dollar book deal leading to the oh so juicily titled book: 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life' (due out in April).
Michael Pietsch, the head of the publishing company says: "I've been in this business since 1978, and it's my first experience signing up an author in her teens; in fact, with several teen years to go." There's enough early buzz and interest for at least a 75,000-copy first printing.
That's pretty impressive. The idea of writing a book about one's B school experience or any kind of school/college experience for that matter is not that original. Quite a few people have thought of that. Heck, I have thought of that! There are even a couple of good books out there related to this. I can see a publisher going for something like that since there seems to be a definite niche for that kind of litrature.
But for a publisher to go out on a limb and sign up a 17 year old kid to write a work of fiction speaks volumes for the kind of talent this girl must have, not to mention the fact that the publisher is even willing to take such a risk. Read the entire article here
(and of course I couldn't resist sending in this story on the SM tipline)
posted by MJ at Thursday, February 23, 2006
2 Comments:
That's awesome you have Darden and Duke! Congrats!! Good luck with W!
Wow. First we had teen popstars. Now teen authors. :-) Kaavya must have a strong head on her shoulders and a very mature mind and heart. If you read the book, let me know how it is. Sounds fascinating.
Pretty impressive indeed. Looks like we are reading the same book - though I am yet to start. Kite Runner is definitely not an uplifting book but I liked the way it was written and the story was pretty unique. Plus I had never read any fiction setting in Afghanistan.
Your wireless story definitely rings true with me. I have to sit at this weird angle to catch a signal and after a while my back starts aching. Oh well, at least its free.
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