reported by Cindy Adams, FictionFanatic.com

In the Spring of 2006, Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan was thrust into the limelight as a plagiarist. Her debut novel, "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," contained dozens of passages which were nearly identical in substance or form to books by several other authors.

The scandal flared up fiercely on television, radio, newspapers, and blogs for a few weeks. It damaged reputations and it killed Kaavya's book deal, which was valued at around $500,000. Then the story faded to a bad memory for the literary establishment and a young Indian-American girl from New Jersey.

Now, a new book "Bring Me the Head of Opal Mehta" (published August, 2006) retells the story from a broader perspective, and explains the puzzling turns of events in the context of globalization and the offshoring of American work. According to author, Kay Stoner, "The scandal around Kaavya Viswananthan and her book is not rare, and it's not isolated to publishing. It's part of deeper problems in workplace globalization policies that tear at the fabric of American lives and compromise the quality of American work product. This story isn't just about a failed chick-lit novel, it's about how multinational corporations do business in the world, and how local subcultures can defend their cultural integrity from globalized encroachment."

Drawing on the author's own experiences with Indian information technology outsourcing, "Bring Me the Head of Opal Mehta" connects the story behind the plagiarism scandal with the perils of sending American work overseas to underqualified offshore staff. Finding parallels between the public failure of a promising novel and often unreported failings in Indian offshoring of US technical jobs, "Bring Me the Head of Opal Mehta" highlights underlying patterns prevalent in American business today, which threaten the very success and society that globalization promises to benefit.

Kay Stoner is a writer and technologist who lives and works in central Massachusetts. Website: www.kaystoner.com