BOOK NOTES. By now you've heard about Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard undergrad who got a $500,000 deal for a book that, it turns out, includes passages that look very similar to passages in Megan McCafferty's Sloppy Firsts, including something about going through "170 specialty shops" in New Jersey. Maud Newton offers an interesting slant: Perhaps the resemblance results from the book packaging process. Meanwhile, Caren Lissner, author of the very good and apparently original novel Carrie Pilby, speculates as to where one can find those New Jersey specialty shops. Lissner also thanks god that she didn't get a $500,000 advance for Carrie Pilby--it could have been ruinous!

You know which author could use a little cash? Charles Webb, author of The Graduate! Webb based the enduring story on his unusual relationship with a woman named Eve who goes by Fred. The two have been together for decades, but they now face eviction unless they can come up with about $2,859 in rent. (It seems that Webb made about $25,000 plus an extra $10,000 for the film rights to The Graduate.) Maud Newton says The Graduate is out of print, but it seems that Amazon has it in stock for less than ten dollars--perfect for a book group! Here's an excerpt.

In potentially related news, Kathleen Turner, who played Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate on Broadway, scored a six-figure deal for a memoir co-authored with Gloria Feldt, according to Publishers Lunch. PL also reports on the imminent arrival of Lance Olsen's Anxious Dreams, a retelling of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" that offers Gregor's story from the perspectives of members of the Samsa household. The book scored a five-figure book deal; the phrase "anxious dreams" is from (a standard English translation of) "The Metamorphosis."