Earlier this afternoon we ran an item on ULA publicity director Karl "King" Wenclas' claims that writer Tom Bissell may have lifted some lines for a 2002 piece and Wenclas' shaking down of lit worlders who ignore his claims.

Well, it turns out the story is a lot more complicated, as writer Glenn Kenny tells us:

Clearly Karl Wenclas has been looking for an opportunity to avenge himself of the pasting Tom Bissell gave him and the ULA in the June 2003 issue of "The Believer" and believes he's found one in this so-called plagiarism. The only problem is that Bisell (who, I should divulge, is a friend and collaborator) already addressed the issue. While "Ecocide" is cited in both hardcover and paperback editions of "Chasing the Sea," Bissell added a note in the paperback edition of "Chasing the Sea" specifically stating "much of the information of pages 313-316 [of 'Chasing the Sea'} is drawn from this book ['Ecocide']." It's up to you if you want to deem that too little, too late, but given that the paperback was prepared in Spring of '04 and hit stores in October of '04, one can't help but wonder if the King himself isn't a bit slow on the uptake. I'll be happy to discuss this further with either of you, but I hate to see a good man and a fine writer besmirched before all the facts have been gathered.


We wish that Wenclas had disclosed his tortuous relationship with Bissell and Bissell's clarifications about his essay and Ecocide in the USSR so that we could've put this whole story in context.

Now, who's coming to King's surprise party!? Woops...
King's Ransom