The Plot

 

Image courtesy: Goodreads

Jacob Finch Bonner is a one-book wonder. His promise has since faded, his second and third novels having sunk without a trace - and he is now making ends meet by teaching in a dubious MFA program in a remote corner of Vermont. Reading through drafts of novels by his students, offering them critiques to make them 'publishable', Bonner is desperately struggling to hold onto his own credibility as an author. Then he meets Evan Parker - ostensibly a student, but totally disdainful of anything that Bonner can offer. Evan claims to have a plot which is a 'sure thing' - which Jacob thinks is  a typical narcissistic boast of an amateur writer - until he hears the plot. 

Years pass, Jacob is now working as a glorified housekeeper at a hotel which runs workshops for budding authors, still waiting for Evan's blockbuster novel to sweep the world off its feet. So when he discovers that Evan has died without his novel being published - Jacob decides to grab this unexpected lifeline - and writes the novel himself. His version of Evan's story - 'Crib' - goes on to achieve the spectacular success Evan had predicted - NY Times bestseller list, book tours, book signings, even a Hollywood deal! At the peak of the Crib wave, Jacob receives the first of a series of anonymous letters, accusing him of being a thief. Jacob's glamorous new life quickly unravels as he digs into Evan's past to find the poison-pen and where his wildly successful plot really came from!

Right off the bat, a completely audacious move by the author to have a sure-shot, blockbuster story as a subplot of her novel!! I kept thinking - if it's such a great idea, why not write it yourself?!! Even better, she actually has 'excerpts' of Bonner's novels in the book - a very unique novel-within-a-novel situation! 2 books for the price of one!! Except that Bonner's 'Crib' is not quite as thrilling as we're led to believe - which kind of puts a damper on the whole thing. And the excerpts read more like a novella or a short story than an actual novel - this, this is what the everyone is apparently reading? 

What is even more problematic for me is the idea that Jacob is guilty of plagiarism - how can it be plagiarism if Evan never published! Last time I checked, you can't really copyright an idea for a book - so in my mind, even if Jacob had taken Evan's plot right after the MFA program, and raced him to the finish - there's nothing that anybody could have done about it. Yes, ethically it's not the correct thing - but this whole plot swings on the fact that Jacob 'stole' the idea for his book, and is then racked with guilt - and I was just not able to get on board with that. True, he got the idea from somewhere else - but HE WROTE THE BOOK!!! Also, I find it very strange that Evan would so nonchalantly share his idea with Jacob - wasn't he even a little worried that Jacob would take it and make it his own? 

To be honest, it's an okay book, I would even say a good thriller. What turned me off was the condescension towards amateur authors. I get it - Bonner's job is to critique new authors - but there is no sense of mentorship, no 'hey, I did it - let me help you too'! To read Jake's derisive thoughts about his students is very off-putting - "Clive Cusslers and mom bloggers and would-be David Foster Wallaces and Donna Tartts - all of them far less gifted than they believed they were" - and that's just a glimpse of the vitriol the author has reserved for all aspiring writers. As a proud 'mom blogger' - who may or may not have an idea for a book - it was very distasteful and unnecessary. Title of Chapter 1 is 'Anybody can be a writer' - and while the author means it sarcastically, I choose to believe in that phrase!

On a personal note, this post marks my return to blogging after a long break. I hope to be more diligent about posting about the books I'm reading, and I want to thank my readers for staying with me during this hiatus!

Happy reading - and yes, happy writing!