Harvard freshman gets $500,000 advance on first novel

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Apparently a "how to get into Harvard" potboiler along the lines of the Chinese, Japanese and Korean variations on the theme, but this time for the Indian market.</p>

<p>"Strangely, Ms. Viswanathan's novel is a case of life imitating art....</p>

<p>"The main character is a girl of Indian descent who's totally academically driven, and when she senses from a Harvard admissions officer that her personal life wasn't perhaps well-rounded, Ms. Mehta goes out and does what she thinks 'regular' American kids do - get drunk, kiss boys, dance on the table," Ms. Viswanathan said.</p>

<p>Does her fictional character get into Harvard? Only the novel will tell."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nriinternet.com/Section1/11Columnists%20and%20Writers/E_Q/Kaavya_Viswanathan/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nriinternet.com/Section1/11Columnists%20and%20Writers/E_Q/Kaavya_Viswanathan/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>For this, someone would get a $500K advance? Must be a lot more sex in it than the blurb intimates.</p>

<p>Sounds like it would make a good movie, though.</p>

3

<p>I believe the expectation is that the book will sell mega-copies in India and South Asia, much as similar "how I got in" potboilers were runaway best sellers in China and Korea.</p>

<p>SEE, for example -</p>

<p>"Harvard Girl"</p>

<p><a href="http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/0702109.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/0702109.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>Oops, looks like Harvard made a little bit of a mistake with this one... </p>

<p>Hindsight is 20/20.</p>

5

<p>Why the hell did you bump up this old thread loser??? We get the point already.:rolleyes:</p>

6

<p>Because it's funny. Especially when you consider this is one of those threads that populate the ivy boards with the fawning stories about the applicants headed to each school.</p>