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A. J. Finn

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For other uses, see Daniel Mallory.

A.J. Finn
Mallory at HeadRead 2018
Mallory at HeadRead 2018
BornDaniel Mallory
New York, U.S.
Alma materDuke University
Notable worksThe Woman in the Window (2018)

Daniel Mallory (born 1979) is an American author who writes crime fiction under the name A. J. Finn. His 2018 novel The Woman in the Window was a strong commercial success, which enjoyed positive reviews. The novel has been translated into more than 40 languages, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.[1] It debuted at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list[2] and the Times (UK) list. The Woman in the Window was adapted into a feature film of the same name, directed by Joe Wright and featuring Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman.[3] It also served as an inspiration for the 2022 Netflix series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window featuring Kristen Bell.[4]

Mallory’s second novel, to be published in 2024, is a thriller set in San Francisco about a young woman writing the biography of a celebrated crime writer.[5]

Early life and education

Mallory was born in New York and moved with his family to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he attended Charlotte Latin School.[6] He went on to attend Duke University, where he majored in English[7] and acted.[8]

Career

Mallory worked in publishing in New York and London for several years, including in London at Sphere Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.[7] He wrote The Woman in the Window, his first novel, while living in New York and working as a vice president and executive editor at publisher William Morrow and Company, which published The Woman in the Window.[8] It debuted in 2018 at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list[7][9] but was criticized for key similarities to Sarah A. Denzil's 2016 book Saving April.[10] A feature film starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman was adapted from the book. The film was originally set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic was sold to Netflix, which began streaming it on May 14, 2021.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

Controversy

A February 2019 article in The New Yorker alleged that Mallory was a habitual liar who feigned fatal illnesses and fabricated a tragic family history.[17] Mallory, the article revealed, had falsely claimed to hold a doctorate from Oxford University, that his mother had died of breast cancer, and that his brother had committed suicide (after impersonating his brother over email to multiple people).[17] Mallory had also falsely claimed to be suffering from cancer himself.[17] Mallory’s psychiatrist told the New Yorker that Mallory sometimes suffered from "somatic complaints, fears, and preoccupations" due to his bipolar depression, while a forensic psychiatrist at King’s College London explained that bipolar episodes “cannot account for sustained arrogant and deceptive interpersonal behaviors.”[17] In a statement through a public relations firm, Mallory said, "It is the case that on numerous occasions in the past, I have stated, implied, or allowed others to believe that I was afflicted with a physical malady instead of a psychological one: cancer, specifically." He continued, "I felt intensely ashamed of my psychological struggles – they were my scariest, most sensitive secret."[17]

Karin Slaughter, an author who worked with Mallory in his role as an editor at William Morrow, criticized the New Yorker article for its “extraordinary amount of animus” toward Mallory.[18]

The Washington Post found that "there’s no real suggestion of plagiarism" in the case of The Woman in the Window and noted that if "bland, mushy sameness were an artistic offense worth ending careers over, bookshelves would be bare and theaters would be bereft of movies to project."[19] "Mallory’s stuff sells," the Post wrote, "because consumers aren’t really all that interested in being challenged by difference."

An article published later that month in the New York Times reported on plagiarism rumors due to "striking" similarities between The Woman in the Window and Sarah A. Denzil’s Saving April.[20] The Times reviewed original outlines of The Woman in the Window and concluded that the similar "plot points were all included in outlines for The Woman in the Window that Mr. Mallory sent to a literary agent at ICM in the fall of 2015, before Ms. Denzil began writing Saving April." The Times noted that the Woman in the Window plot outlines it reviewed were dated September 20, 2015 and October 4, 2015, and that Denzil had not started writing Saving April until October 2015.[20] The Times also reported that Mallory had started writing The Woman in the Window in the summer of 2015.

In an interview with the trade publication Publishers Lunch, Denzil explained that she previewed a brief excerpt from Saving April in Kindle Scout in mid-December 2015 and that "March 2016 would have been the earliest point that anyone, aside from me, the Kindle Press team and the copy editor at Kindle Press, would have read the book in its entirety."[21]

In a follow-up about The Woman in the Window, the New York Times quoted Harvard copyright law expert Rebecca Tushnet who explained that there are many "well-worn tropes in thrillers," as well as Stuart Karle of the Columbia Journalism School who explained that "great fiction builds on prior works in terms of both language and sense of place."[22]

Mallory has cited genre classics such as Rear Window, Gas Light, and Gone Girl as inspirations for The Woman in the Window.

The popular Netflix series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, released in 2022, spoofed many common plot elements of the thriller genre and paid homage to The Woman in the Window in its title and plot.[23]

Bibliography

  • Finn, A. J. (January 2018). The Woman in the Window (First ed.). New York, NY: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 9780062678416. OCLC 1293226856.[24][25][26][27][28]

References

  1. ^ "A. J. Finn". HarperCollins. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Weir, Keziah (January 19, 2018). "Your Book Editor Just Snagged Your Spot on the Best-Seller List". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  3. ^ Wright, Joe (May 14, 2021), The Woman in the Window (Crime, Drama, Mystery), 20th Century Studios, Fox 2000 Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, retrieved February 11, 2023
  4. ^ Shunpike, Stan. "11 Movies Parodied By "The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  5. ^ lindasbookbag (January 27, 2018). "An Interview with A. J. Finn, Author of The Woman in the Window". Linda's Book Bag. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  6. ^ "Alumni: Class notes". Latin magazine. Charlotte Latin School. Spring 2018. p. 54 – via Issuu.
  7. ^ a b c Weir, Keziah (January 19, 2018). "Your Book Editor Just Snagged Your Spot on the Best-Seller List". New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Bliwise, Robert (April 17, 2018). "Dan Mallory's 'Window' on success". Duke magazine. Duke University. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  9. ^ "The New York Times Best Seller List: January 21, 2018: Fiction" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2019 – via www.hawes.com.
  10. ^ Alter, Alexandra (February 14, 2019). "Similarities in 2 Novels Raise Questions About the Limits of Literary Influence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  11. ^ Adams, Tim (January 14, 2018). "Daniel Mallory: 'Without Gone Girl I'd never have written this book'". The Guardian. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  12. ^ "Why Dan Mallory is grappling with the success of his author alter ego, AJ Finn". Noted. Archived from the original on January 27, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  13. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 3, 2020). "Netflix Negotiating For 'The Woman In The Window' With Amy Adams; Last Fox 2000 Elizabeth Gabler Project Will Be Let Go By Disney". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  14. ^ Walden, Celia (January 26, 2018). "Meet blockbuster British author AJ Finn - the man who says he "thinks like a woman"". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  15. ^ ABDUL (August 24, 2020). "Woman In The Window: When It Is Heading On Netflix, Every Detail Fans Should Know]". The Digital Wise. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  16. ^ @NetflixFilm (March 4, 2021). "Amy Adams THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW On Netflix May 14" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ a b c d e Parker, Ian (February 11, 2019). "A Suspense Novelist's Trail of Deceptions". New Yorker. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  18. ^ "Karin Slaughter | 'I get gendered questions about the violence in my books'". The Bookseller. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  19. ^ "Opinion | Should readers care if novelist Dan Mallory lied about his life story?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Alter, Alexandra (February 14, 2019). "Similarities in 2 Novels Raise Questions About the Limits of Literary Influence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  21. ^ Somers, Erin (February 21, 2019). "NYT Updates Dan Mallory Story With Details From Author's Outlines". Publishers Lunch. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  22. ^ Alter, Alexandra (February 14, 2019). "Similarities in 2 Novels Raise Questions About the Limits of Literary Influence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  23. ^ Shunpike, Stan. "11 Movies Parodied By "The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  24. ^ Gutterman, Annabel (May 14, 2021). "What to Know About 'The Woman in the Window' as the Movie Adaptation Hits Netflix". Time. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  25. ^ "Secondhand books: the murky world of literary plagiarism". the Guardian. February 25, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  26. ^ "Novelist Dan Mallory admits to concocting portions of his real-life saga, including brain cancer". ABC News. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  27. ^ Elm, Joanna (February 10, 2018). "What He Did Wrong; What He Did Right : How A.J. Finn Wrote A #1 Bestseller". Joanna Elm. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  28. ^ Murphy, Chris (May 14, 2021). "'The Woman in the Window' Had a Particularly Rocky Road to Netflix". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A._J._Finn&oldid=1144507366"