Controversy
In 1994–95, Leavitt was sued by the English poet Stephen Spender, who claimed Leavitt had plagiarized his memoir in While England Sleeps. Subsequently, Viking Press, Leavitt's publishers, agreed to delete a passage that closely paralleled Spender's. The publishers also agreed never to publish the manuscript that had become the subject of the charge of plagiarism. In addition, Spender claimed that Leavitt had fictionalized his life, especially by adding graphic fantasies attributed to the character modeled after Spender (in particular, "allegedly using his relationship with 'Jimmy Younger'"). "If he wants to write about sexual fantasies, he should write about his own," the poet said.
Some critics have since noted Leavitt's career has never recovered from the plagiarism charge, and that a once-promising author is now considered a marginalized gay writer with limited scope. Although, later of The Indian Clerk relase, critics have good reviews for him
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