Lawsuit, You-Know-What: Kaysen Victorious in Memoir Case
by Steven Zeitchik, PW NewsLine -- Publishers Weekly, 3/23/2004
Random House can claim victory in a case against both it and Girl, Interrupted author Susana Kaysen. Kaysen had been sued by ex-boyfriend Joseph Bonome for her 2001 book The Camera My Mother Gave Me. The title, an "autopathography," as the Times memorably dubbed it, about the author's struggle with vaginal pain, accused an unnamed boyfriend of insensitivity and offensive sexual behavior that had "culminate[d] with the suggestion that he raped her," in the words of the presiding judge.
Bonome, the unnamed paramour, sued for invasion of privacy, saying that though he remained anonymous in the book his reputation suffered after friends and business associates recognized him. But the Massachusetts Superior Court dismissed the case and found that legitimate public interest--the standard used for what might except information to invasion-of-privacy laws--existed in this case, in part because Bonome's actions pertained to Kaysen's condition and was thus an essential part of the plot.
"However arguably odious, the defendant did not exercise the right of disclosure in a manner offensive to the balance of those (free speech vs. invasion of privacy) interests." It also said that Kaysen's stature as more than merely a disinterested party gave her extra first-amendment protection.
Random House lawyers say the decision could establish a precedent that goes beyond this case, protecting other revealing memoirs from privacy lawsuits. The publisher also took heart from the ruling's mention of an earlier decision about the importance of using publishers' judgment as part of the criteria in determining public interest. "It means courts generally will not second guess editorial decisions," wrote Random counsel Jon Fine.
Finally, in an item of note to memoirists perhaps a little too itchy for material: "The court," according to Random, "also rejected the plaintiff's claims that Kaysen had tricked him into having the relationship in order to provide her with material for a book."
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