The Paper Dragon (31 page)

"Your Honor, Mr. Willow earlier objected to the relevancy of what a writer was
attempting
to show as opposed to what he actually
did
show. I make the same objection now."

"Mr. Danton is repeating a discussion he had with Mr. Driscoll. I believe the title of the book pertains to the theme, your Honor, and as such is relevant."

"Overruled. Proceed, Mr. Willow."

"You were saying, Mr. Danton?"

"That Jimmy… Mr. Driscoll did not perhaps realize what the
real
theme of his book was. This very often happens with writers. It seemed to me, though, that this was a book about, well, I deplore cliches, but it was certainly a book about man's inhumanity to man. When I suggested this to Jimmy, he seemed surprised. But it was then that I suggested
The Other Enemy
, meaning not the
enemy
enemy, but the enemy that is in all men, do you see?"

"How did the idea for the present title come to you?"

"The Paper Dragon?"

"Yes."

"The term 'paper dragon' is familiar to host writers and editors. It's used to denote a story problem that is really nonexistent."

"Would you explain further?"

"Well, let's assume a man comes home reeking of perfume. His wife immediately suspects that he has been seeing another woman, and this creates the conflict, which in turn provokes a series of plot complications, and at last a resolution. The explanation, of course, is that the man had been buying perfume for his wife, and the salesgirl sprayed a little on him — in short, a paper dragon, a nonexistent problem. If the wife had come right out and asked her husband about it, and if he had explained, there would be no conflict, and of course no story."

"A paper dragon is, then, a nonexistent problem or conflict."

"Yes. But this doesn't prevent a lot of people from becoming energetically involved in the series of events it triggers. It's a specious literary device."

"Why did you suggest this title for Mr. Driscoll's novel?"

"I suggested it on various levels. To begin with, his novel deals with that period of time when the Chinese were coming into Korea in force, and I thought the title would indicate that the book was, after all, about war with the Chinese. Secondly, using it in an allusive sense, I thought it would indicate that the Chinese army was only a paper dragon, whereas the
real
enemy, the
real
dragon was man's innate cruelty. And lastly, I thought it would clearly label Colman's fake and private war against our hero, the conflict he constructs out of whole cloth, the way he turns the other men against Cooper, the whole chain of events based on a problem that need not have existed in the first place, a paper dragon."

"And what happened when you suggested this title to Mr. Driscoll?"

"He liked it"

"And it was decided that this title would be used on the published novel?"

"Yes."

"To get back for a moment, after your first talk with Mr. Driscoll — you said it was in July of 1962 — did you then offer him a contract for the publication of his novel?"

"Yes."

"Is this the contract you sent to him?"

"It is."

"I offer the contract in evidence, your Honor."

"For what purpose, Mr. Willow?"

"To show that the book was only partially completed when submitted to Mitchell-Campbell. The contract clearly states that the company is in receipt of only ninety-eight pages and an outline, and if further specifies that the completed novel is to be delivered by January 1, 1963, and will consist of some eighty-thousand words."

"Mr. Brackman?"

"No objection."

"Received."

"Defendants' Exhibit F received in evidence," the clerk said.

"Mr. Danton, did you in November of 1962 send Mr. Driscoll a company questionnaire?"

"I did."

"Did he return the questionnaire to you, and is this the questionnaire?"

"Yes, this is what he filled out in November of '62."

"Is it signed by him?"

"No, we don't require a signature on these questionnaires. They're used only to get information which we'll need later for promotion and publicity. Most books, as you know, carry biographical information about the author, either on the jacket flap or on the last page of the book, or both. These questionnaires are helpful to the person preparing the copy. And, too, we need information for newspaper publicity, anecdotes about the writer, his educational background, honors he may have received, and so forth."

"Are these questionnaires sent to every author on Mitchell-Campbell's list?"

"They are."

"As a part of the normal business procedure?"

"As a part of the normal business procedure."

"I offer it in evidence, your Honor."

"No objection."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit G in evidence.' "

"Mr. Danton, I ask you to recall now any further editorial suggestions you may have made concerning Mr. Driscoll's novel. Did you, for example, make any suggestion about the use of profanity?"

"Yes, I did. There was a scene in which Lieutenant Cooper met his fellow officers, and it seemed to me the profanity in that scene was excessive."

"I show you a second editorial memorandum with the initials 'CD' and I ask you now to describe it to the Court."

"Well, this is my comment… the report I wrote after the completed novel was delivered to me. It's dated February 4, 1963, and it mentions the fact that my earlier editorial suggestions had been successfully incorporated into the novel."

"Does it make any comments about further changes?"

"Yes, it does."

"Would you tell us what those comments are?"

"I'll simply read the last two paragraphs of the report, which are the only parts pertaining to your question. 'If anything, Driscoll has delivered a better novel than the portion and outline promised. His enlargement upon the slain major, for example, with the subsequent homosexual development of Private Colman is inventive and fresh, and completely satisfies our request for stronger motivation. I am, to be truthful, overwhelmed by the depth and scope of this novel, and it's only because the book is so good, in fact, that I bring up what might seem a carping point. I refer to the profanity. This is a realistic war novel, of course, and the combat setting and soldier-characters make the inevitable Anglo-Saxonisms essential to the tone and the very structure. But it seems to me they can be softened somewhat in the scenes where they are used arbitrarily — as in the officers' mess scene — if only to mollify some of the more militant scenes. Elsewhere, I'm afraid we can't do very much about the language because excising the four-letter words would damage the authentic sound of the entire work. One excellent scene, for example, where the men are ostensibly involved in the field-stripping of a rifle, would lose all of its sexual connotations if the language were even slightly changed.' And here, penciled in the margin alongside that paragraph, is a note dated February fifteenth, and stating that these points had been taken care of. Do you want me to go on with the next paragraph of the report?"

"Please."

"Again, I'm quoting: 'In my opinion, the last chapter is anticlimactic especially when placed in juxtaposition to the enormously effective penultimate chapter. The book needs a coda more than it does anything else, perhaps a short scene between Colman and the nurse. I have no doubt that Driscoll can come up with something to fill the bill. He has up to now delivered beyond our highest expectations. We have a fine novel here, and it's by a writer who is only thirty-three years old and who will, I am certain, go on writing many more excellent books. I feel we've made a true discovery.' That's the end of the report."

"Was the final chapter changed after you wrote your report?"

"Yes."

"And were there also subsequent changes?"

"I would guess so. Every book we publish goes through a subtle process of evolution during the copy editing and styling. Small changes are inevitable."

"I offer this report in evidence, your Honor."

"Is it dated?"

"It is dated February 4, 1963, and a note at the bottom of the report states, 'All revisions completed March 6, 1963.' "

"My objection as before, your Honor," Brackman said.

"Overruled."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit H in evidence,' " the clerk said.

"Now Mr. Danton, you had by March 6, 1963, a completed manuscript of James Driscoll's book, had you not?"

"Yes, I had a finished manuscript by that date."

"Did you show it to anyone else working for Mitchell-Campbell?"

"I passed it on to Anita Lang."

"Did she subsequently make a report on it?"

"Yes."

"Is this the report?"

Danton took the extended sheet of paper, glanced at it, and said, "This is Anita's report."

"I offer in evidence Miss Lang's second report."

"Objection as before."

"Overruled."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit I in evidence."

"Would you please look at the next to last paragraph of the report where Miss Lang writes, 'It seems to me that the two flashbacks revealing segments of Private Colman's civilian life are extraneous. They advance neither theme nor plot and seem particularly obvious since we do not have similar civilian flashbacks for any of the other soldiers.' When
The Paper Dragon
was published, were these two flashbacks still in the book?"

"No, sir, they were not."

"They were deleted after Miss Lang made her report?"

"Yes, sir, they were."

"Who transmitted the request to Mr. Driscoll?"

"I did."

"In the last paragraph of her report, Miss Lang writes, 'Don't you feel we need another scene between Coop and the nurse to show how the squad's pressure on him is beginning to affect his behavior elsewhere?' In the margin, we have the penciled words, 'Fine, will do,' and the initials 'CD.' Did you write that in the margin?"

"I did."

"Was another scene between Coop and the nurse added to the book?"

"I don't remember, but I would imagine so. If Miss Lang made the suggestion, and I indicated it would be taken care of, then I'm sure I passed the request on to Jimmy. He was very receptive to most editorial suggestions, so I would say it was likely he added this scene as well."

"Before the book was finally published — what was its publication date, by the way, Mr. Danton?"

"October of 1963."

"When would you estimate you had a manuscript ready to go to the printers?"

"I would imagine some six months before then. That would be…"

"That would be…"

"In May, I would…"

"April, wouldn't it?"

"April or May, yes. We like at least six months' time for our salesmen to get on the road with a book."

"When did API see the book, would you know that?"

"Well, Mr. Driscoll took on an agent shortly after we contracted for the book, and I think his agent began showing it to the motion picture companies when it was still in galleys."

"Did API buy it from the galley proofs?"

"Yes."

"Would you know how much they paid for the motion picture rights?"

"Thirty-five thousand dollars."

"How much of that went to Mr. Driscoll's agent?"

"Ten per cent. Thirty-five hundred dollars."

"And how much went to Mitchell-Campbell Books?"

"Our contract called for twenty-five per cent of all subsidiary rights."

"You received twenty-five per cent of what was left after Mr. Driscoll's agent took his commission?"

"No. Our twenty-five per cent came off the top."

"In other words, you received a quarter of thirty-five thousand dollars?"

"That's right."

"You received eight thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars?"

"That's correct."

"And Mr. Driscoll's agent received thirty-five hundred dollars, which means that Mr. Driscoll was left with twenty-two thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars."

"If your addition is correct."

"I think it is."

"I'll accept it."

"That was his share of the sale of motion picture rights to his novel."

"Yes."

"The novel that later earned millions of dollars for API."

"Objection, your Honor. I do not see…"

"Sustained. Where are you going, Mr. Willow?"

"I am merely trying to show, your Honor, that Mr. Driscoll's alleged 'theft' hardly seemed to be worth all the trouble. The only ones who made any real money out of this supposed plagiarism were the people who made the movie."

"Your Honor," Brackman said, "I think a sum in excess of twenty-two thousand dollars can be considered 'real money.' Men have robbed banks for less."

"I quite agree, Mr. Brackman," McIntyre said. "I think we've had enough of this, Mr. Willow, and I see no point in pursuing it further."

"Getting back then," Jonah said with a sigh, "before publication, did you talk to Mr. Driscoll about anything in the book that might later prove troublesome?"

"Yes, we always do, as a matter of routine."

"Can you explain what you mean?"

"We're always concerned about the possibility of lawsuits. Invasion of privacy, usually. Or libel. In any work of fiction, there's the danger that someone will identify with a fictitous character and bring suit. We try to make sure that the names of the characters, for example, are not the names of any real people."

"What about telephone numbers?"

"We check those out to make sure they do not correspond to any real numbers in service."

"Did you take such care with Mr. Driscoll's book?"

"Well, there were no telephone numbers involved since the book is set in Korea, as you know. But we did ask Jimmy whether any of the names he used were the actual names of men he may have known during his Army service. He assured us they were not."

"Were any other precautions taken?"

"Yes. At one point in the book, Jimmy mentioned the lieutenant's serial number. The actual numeral appeared in the book, you see."

"Yes?"

"So we wrote to the Army and had them give us a nonexistent serial number we could use."