The New York Times and Barnes & Noble are celebrating the release of Chanrithy Him’s book”When Broken Glass Floats,” but some Eugene residents are slower to glow about a book that is surrounded by controversy and questions about who wrote it.
Friday started as a book reading at Barnes & Noble for Him’s memoir of growing up in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, but it turned into a dialogue about Him’s writing process and whether Kimber Williams, a Register-Guard feature writer, co-wrote portions of the book.
While Barnes & Noble has listed Him in its “Discover New Authors” program, two local bookstores are indefinitely postponing readings until the controversy clears. Mother Kali’s had scheduled a reading for May 12 but canceled it.
“We don’t know who is right or wrong, we just hesitate to have the reading until a court or something has decided,” said Gail Elber, a book-reading organizer for Mother Kali’s.
Tom Gerald, book events coordinator for the University Bookstore, said he will hold off having a reading until the controversy clears up.
“We wanted to stay out of it until all legal problems involved were solved,” Gerald said.
Friday’s reading took on an emotional tone as questions were increasingly prodding, dealing with how some audience members perceived a suspiciously dramatic improvement in Him’s writing voice in the past four years.
“I was informed that there would be a protest organized by Kimber Williams,” said Him, a Eugene resident who graduated from the University with a degree in biochemistry.
“I just answered honestly,” she said of the expected questions of the book.
Him said she does not have anything to worry about and is confident that anyone who reads the 1996 copyrighted manuscript and the published version will see enough similarity to know Williams’ contributions did not significantly shape the expression of her life story.
Williams, who received her masters in journalism from the University in 1995, said Friday’s reading was the first time she and Him had been in the same room since 1998 when Him presented Williams with a contract.
The contract brought to the surface a dispute over Williams’ role. It called Williams a copy editor and entitled her to 15 percent of the royalties from the sale of the book. Before Him presented Williams with the contract, Williams was under the impression that her name would appear next to Him’s, as a co-author.
“If she would have come to me and told me she wanted a copy editor, I would have told her I am not an editor,” Williams said.
Him said she does not see it that way, calling Williams a “freelance editor” who rejected the contract. The contract was presented after they had been working together about three times a week for 10 months, Williams said.
Those from the local writing community who came with questions about Him’s process, Williams said, had often asked how they could help with the matter, and she suggested specific questions about the book’s preparation.
“It’s not unusual at book readings to talk to authors about the process of writing,” Williams said.
Him’s former writing instructors and people who had contributed to her manuscript voiced support for her. Barbara Branscomb, a freelance editor, said she worked with three drafts of Him’s manuscript.
“I did a lot of editing on that book, and I struggled with Chanrithy over every single word that I was recommending she change,” Branscomb said.
While Dianne Butler did Friday’s reading because Him said the content makes her emotional, Williams held a tape recorder and showed little expression other than nodding.
Williams described Saturday what it felt like listening to the portion of chapter seven, “Remnants of Ghosts.”
“There were huge chunks of paragraphs that I know I wrote — I recall composing them; I know what informed the choices of using those words,” Williams said. “It’s almost like feeling words thunder through your bones … this bizarre sense of recognition — I mean it was a very powerful experience for me, and sad.”
Him emphasized that Williams didn’t help her write anything from scratch.
“They attack my ability,” she said. “They think that because English is not my first language that I cannot write creatively. It’s ignorance. Ignorance is their weakness.”
Williams said she admires Him as a person and for the things she has accomplished since escaping from Cambodia and coming to the United States, calling her a “woman of extraordinary strength and capabilities.”
“When she embarked on this, she had a life experience,” Williams said. “But she didn’t have an extensive background or training in writing.”
Him said her manuscript has improved since the 1996 version was copyrighted but it is because of diligent revision.
“How could it be that Kimber Williams is the co-author of something that was written before she came onto the scene?” Michael Ratoza, Him’s copyright lawyer, said. “The book that is published today is a vastly different book than was submitted to [W.W.] Norton [& Company].”
Ratoza said that since the time Williams worked on the manuscript, it has undergone many changes — Him said a senior editor at Norton worked on three drafts with her — and those changes are in print now.
No lawsuit is pending, but legal counsel for both parties discussed the dispute when Ratoza met with Williams’ lawyer, Neal Gantcher.
Ratoza claims that Him owns the copyrights because there was no agreement up front that Williams was to be a co-author. Him also maintained control over computer files on which the drafts are saved.
Gantcher said he believes publishing the book without crediting Williams is copyright infringement because “Kimber provided the words.”
“It’s [Him’s] story to tell, and she could tell it. The fact is that is not what happened,” Gantcher said.
Both Him and Williams said they hope the issue will be resolved soon but are firm in their beliefs.
“I feel like I went into this project for the right reasons,” Williams said. “I’ve been in journalism for more than 20 years. I could never invent this. I have everything to lose.”
Him said she plans to focus on her tour and said this is the time to celebrate the book.
“I appreciated [Williams’] help, there is no denying that,” she said. “But this is the story of my life, what I went though, and I wrote it.”