Being There (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Jerzy Kosinski |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace |
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Publication date
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1970 |
| Pages | 141 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Steps |
| Followed by | The Devil Tree |
Being There is a satirical novel by the Polish-born writer Jerzy Kosinski, first published in 1970. Set in America, the story concerns Chance, a simple gardener who unwittingly becomes a much sought-after political pundit and commentator on the vagaries of the modern world.
A film based on the book was made in 1979; Kosinski co-wrote the film's screenplay with Robert C. Jones.
When Jerzy Kosinski published Being There – wrote historian Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska – "most Polish critics immediately recognized [his book] as a version of Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy (Nikodem Dyzma's Career) by Tadeusz Dolega-Mostowicz, a very popular novel from the interwar period, and Kosinski was again accused of plagiarism."
The authorship controversy was a repetition of an earlier case, concerning Kosinski's first novel, The Painted Bird published in 1965, which was plagiarized from a book published in the Second Polish Republic by the Polish ethnographer Henryk Biegeleisen.
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Wikipedia