Michael Knight Michael Depauw Knight, Jr., Grove Atlantic Publishers Does EVENINGLAND by Infringe the Copyright of THE FISHER KING by Hayley Kelsey? Knoxville Tennessee

Does EVENINGLAND by Michael Knight Infringe the Copyright of THE FISHER KING by Hayley Kelsey? Read on to Decide for Yourself (and see more at https://medium.com/@hayleykelseyauthor)

History:

• On October 3, 2012, I submitted a query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages of my novel to Grove/Atlantic, which published alleged infringing title Eveningland: Stories.
• On January 19, 2014, I submitted a query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages of my novel to agent Warren Frazier at John Hawkins & Associates, who represents alleged infringer Michael Knight.
• On March 7, 2017, Eveningland was published by Grove/Atlantic Publishers.

Does EVENINGLAND Have Striking and Substantial Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

”The King of Dauphin Island”

• Similar title: The Fisher King and “The King of Dauphin Island.”
• Similar setting: In The Fisher King, environmentally-damaged Chesapeake Bay island. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” environmentally damaged Mobile Bay island.
• In The Fisher King, watermen/islanders have lived and worked on island for generations, are dependent on seasonal tourism and sales of vacation homes. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” fishermen/islanders have lived and worked on island for generations, are dependent on seasonal tourism and sales of vacation homes.
• In The Fisher King, successful commercial real estate developer wants to buy dying island and turn it into watermen’s theme park to rake in tourist dollars. Environmental activist Peter wants to reclaim fishery/island from environmental damage (sinking, eroding, extreme weather), and restore it to pristine state. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” successful commercial real estate developer Marcus Weems wants to buy dying island, reclaim it from development-caused environmental damage (shrinking, eroding, extreme weather), and restore it to pristine state.
• In The Fisher King, watermen/islanders, including three brothers (Don, Peter, Sonny Kingsley) both welcome financial investment in island and are suspicious of outsiders, especially those introducing change. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” fishermen/islanders, including three brothers (Alton, Ike, Homer Tenpenny) both welcome financial investment in island and are suspicious of outsiders, especially those introducing change.
• In The Fisher King, guilt-stricken for her role in brother’s death, Gail attempts to atone for it by protecting innocent Sonny. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” guilt-stricken for his inability to save wife from death, Weems attempts to atone for his rapacious career by restoring island.
• In The Fisher King, bankruptcy court scene pits family members against each other as they decide the character’s financial fate and the fate of bay, island. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” courtroom scene pits family members against each other as it decides daughters’ financial fate and the fate of island. 
• In The Fisher King, Gail is finally able to come to terms with her brother’s death when she sees husband embodied in son. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” Weems is finally able to come to terms with his wife’s death when he sees her embodied in daughters and grandson.
• The syntax is nearly identical: The Fisher King invokes island’s historical aspects in 17th century pirates, Confederacy, Civl War, island’s first name: Rogue’s Reach. Sonny is embarrassed by sight of woman nursing baby. “The King of Dauphin Island” invokes island’s historical aspects in 17th century privateers, Confederacy, Civl War, island first named Massacre island. Weems is embarrassed by sight of daughter nursing baby. 
• The syntax is identical: In The Fisher King, Gail sees the “moneymen.” King “moves money around.” There’s gossip about an “office park.” King is proud to bequeath bay to son “as though it were his to give.” “I couldn’t help myself. I slipped a fingernail under the flap” of envelope. The “Army Corps of Engineers” tries to shore up island against erosion. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” Weems is one of “moneymen.” He must “move some funds around” and unload an “office park.” Weems is proud to bequeath to daughters “anything in the world was his to give.” “He couldn’t resist slipping a thumbnail under the flap” of envelope. The “Corps of Engineers” tries to shore up island against erosion.                   
• The denouements are identical: In The Fisher King, ends ambiguously: neither big business, environmental activists, nor locals win. Gail finally comes to terms with her guilt and grief. Regina, Arlene move into retirement homes. Island will become historical theme park. Ironically, nature carries out Don’s and Peter’s restoration plans when island is abandoned. “The King of Dauphin Island,” ends ambiguously: neither big business, environmental goal, nor locals win. Weems finally comes to terms with his guilt and grief. Weems moves into retirement home. Fort Gaines becomes a Most Endangered Historical Site. Ironically, nature carries out Weems’s restoration plans when a hurricane flattens island.
• The themes are identical: In The Fisher King, work that depletes natural resources and harms environment v. conservation that restores life. The importance of work to sense of self and of purpose. The importance of passing on family history, family business, genes, a future to next generation. Unresolved grief over loved one’s death and unresolved guilt over failure to prevent it, character attempts to atone for it. In “The King of Dauphin Island,” work that depletes natural resources and harms environment v. conservation that restores life. The importance of work to sense of self and of purpose. The importance of passing on family history, family business, genes, a future to next generation. Unresolved grief over loved one’s death and unresolved guilt over failure to prevent it, attempt to atone for it.   

”Landfall”

• Identical main characters’ names: In The Fisher King: Pruitt, King. In “Landfall”: Pruitt, King.
• In The Fisher King, King apprenticed in family business as boy. In “Landfall,” Angus apprenticed in family business as boy.
• In The Fisher King, two brothers Don and Peter, leave for college and return. In “Landfall," one brother, Percy, leaves for college and returns.
• In The Fisher King, Gail is tall. In “Landfall,” Nora is tall.
• In The Fisher King, Don has big, soft body. In “Landfall," A.B. Ransom has big, soft body.
• In The Fisher King, Gail cherishes early mornings in countryside with father. In “Landfall," Percy cherishes early mornings in the countryside with father.
• In The Fisher King, Gail becomes seasick. In “Landfall,” Angus becomes seasick.
• In The Fisher King, Sonny stalls truck engine. In “Landfall,” Percy stalls truck engine.
• In The Fisher King, question raised of tacking on “III” to son’s name. In “Landfall,” question raised of tacking on “third” to son’s name.
• In The Fisher King, Gail is hyper-aware of parts of her body: scalp, nostrils, toes. In “Landfall,” Kathleen is hyper-aware of parts of her body: hair follicles, inside of nose, bottoms of feet.
• In The Fisher King, a bottle whistles through the air. In “Landfall,” the wind whistles like breath over a bottle.
• In The Fisher King, Don turns portable radio dial from weather to music. In “Landfall,” Nora turns portable radio dial from weather to music.
• The syntax is identical: In The Fisher King, “I drew the line at...tacking on ‘III’” to son’s name. “I was suddenly aware of the tiny space...The wavering light...I was intensely aware of myself physically...Instead, I felt completely present, as though fully inhabiting my own skin. I was aware of those parts of my body that typically went unnoticed—scalp, nostrils, toes—and where they intersected with the world: the hair on my head...the cool wood beneath my soles.” In “Landfall,” “Your grandmother wanted him to be the third” tacked to son’s name. “The close quarters and the forced quiet and the wavery light combined somehow to make Kathleen aware of her whole body, every muscle and bones, the follicles of her hair and the bottoms of her feet and the inside of her nose...and this awareness of herself, of being alive at just this moment…”

“Our Lady of the Roses” 

• Identical main character’s name. In The Fisher King: Regina. In “Our Lady of the Roses”: Regina.
• Nearly identical main character’s name. The Fisher King by Hayley. In “Our Lady of the Roses”: Hadley.
• In The Fisher King, Gail is tall. In "Our Lady of the Roses", Hadley is tall.
• In The Fisher King, Don applied to Columbia University because far away, and returns. In "Our Lady of the Roses", Hadley applied to Columbia University because far away, and returns.
• In The Fisher King, Arlene’s female friends gloat upon her return. In “Our Lady of the Roses,” Hadley’s female friends gloat upon her return.
• In The Fisher King, Gail flips files over top into landfill. In "Our Lady of the Roses", Hadley flips bag over top into dumpster
• In The Fisher King, Gail lies. In "Our Lady of the Roses", Hadley lies.
• In The Fisher King, Don is soft, plump. In “Our Lady of the Roses,” Davis is soft, plump.
• The syntax is identical: In The Fisher King, “He [Don] had picked Columbia primarily for its location—he wanted to get as far away from Trappe Island as possible.” In “Our Lady of the Roses,” “Hadley had applied to...Columbia, because… none of those schools were less than five hundred miles from Mobile.”

  “Smash and Grab” 

• Identical main character’s name. In The Fisher King: Pruitt. In “Smash and Grab”: Pruitt.

Does EVENINGLAND Have Plot and Theme Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

There are the eight main elements that comprise the “heart” on which The Fisher King turns, and “The King of Dauphin Island” takes six of them:

1. Business—Greed caused big business (commercial real estate development) to exploit the island, depleting it of natural resources, harming the environment & putting locals out of work.

2. Conservation—The importance of reclaiming island from environmental damage.

3. Work—The importance of work to identity & sense of purpose. 

4. Community—The importance of community to sense of belonging, loyalty.

5. Setting—The importance of place, specifically island, to work, identity, community.

6. Inheritance—The importance of inheriting and passing on: island, history, genes, a future.

Does EVENINGLAND Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

Does “The King of Dauphin Island” Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

146—Similar title: 146—“The King of Dauphin Island” STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 1—The Fisher King

148—Similar setting: Dauphin Island, a barrier island, on Mobile Bay SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 5, 7—Trappe Island, a barrier island, on Chesapeake Bay

147—infant James strapped to one of them [daughters] SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 412—Strapped to my chest, [infant] Andy stared.

148—Marcus had, in the course of his career, parlayed a modest inheritance into a fortune in commercial real estate. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 95—King had started out with a string of ice-houses and built them into picking plants, which expanded to include processing factories…King catapulted Trappe Island…into [an] industry that kept over half the island employed.

150—They had a talent for phrasing questions in such a way that the answers were implied STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 272—He... phrased questions out loud then answered them to his own satisfaction. 126—he’d phrase a statement in such a way that it begged a response

151—he stood watch at the edge of Dauphin Island, his old life just out of sight across the water. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 155—far removed from my real life, which seemed to be continuing out on the bay

151-152—Massacre Island...so named because in 1699 the explorer Pierre Le Moyne dropped anchor SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 95—It [island] had first gained notoriety...in the 17th century for pirates...was dubbed Rogue’s Reach. 201-202—“founded by Captain William von Trappe on an exploratory mission for Her Majesty’s Royal Fleet to the New World in the 17th century. 

153-154—tourism revenue in steep decline...the population of Dauphin Island was down at least two hundred souls the last few years, the island itself shrinking all the time...“By the time I’m gone...won’t be nothing left.”...These men...had been having this conversation...forever and would go on having it until their dire prognostications came true at last. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 244—the tourist trade, which began to fall off. 320—tourist season was over 332—but tourist season was over. “There’s no work.” 202—Now the island is home to two hundred residents...a third of the population of twenty years ago.” 288—It was strange to watch the island noticeably shrink 264—“The island is sinking...In how many years—fifty? A hundred?—Trappe Island would be gone. 351—if Don’s and Peter’s dire predictions came true.

154-155—The adjacent storefronts—a former video game parlor—were all defunct. Marcus ducked inside behind the tinkling of a bell. The realtor, Norma Bird, according to the nameplate on her desk STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 94—Some enterprising soul had opened a videotape rental shop a while back. 21—A string of bells hanging from the top jingled noisily 16—the realtor, Sheila Sayer 372—I squinted to read the nameplate on the table before him

155—He’d have to move some funds around STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 10—“He moves money around...” 

156—on the phone with...moneymen IDENTICAL TO 248—They were moneymen, too. 370—the moneymen in the restaurant 419—I saw the moneymen from the restaurant 420—how much the moneymen had offered for the property 424—the moneymen were about to break ground

156—There were state and federal permits to sort out SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 139—“Your building permit” 140—“Be sure to apply for a plumbing permit…”141—“What’s the wait on all these permits?” 145—Annapolis [state capital] to get the necessary permits. 424—Nailed to the front door was a building permit

157—“I want to buy the island.” STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 247—“Whatever happened to the idea of buying up all the lots and turning the whole island...”

158—“This is a community,” he said, raising his eyes. “It’s dying,” Marcus said...a seafood restaurant that had gone belly up STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 247—“I’m afraid that’s not really a viable option,” Pruitt said. “People live there. They have…communities”... he admonished “The bay is dying.” 21—“gone belly up.”

158—Ike retrieved a pair of bifocals from his his breast pocket...as if trying to bring an optical illusion IDENTICAL TO 372—he pulled from his breast pocket a pair of…bifocals 113—an optical illusion

159—king IDENTICAL TO 10-throughout—King

160—a Corps of Engineers proposal to truck one-hundred-million tons of sand onto the island as backfill    against the past and buffer against the future...In this new light...the island looked newly beautiful. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 98—various groups had tried to resurrect it [shrinking isle], but the rising tide table eroded all their efforts. The Army Corps of Engineers tried to shore it up against the encroaching tide by surrounding it with a skirt of interconnected plastic, known as riprap, which, although it slowed the erosion, couldn’t halt it altogether. 274—the future and back into the past 264—The island, which I’d once been so eager to leave, now seemed incredibly fragile and precious.

161—he could almost hear their trapped voices SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 9—“we’ll be trapped” 18—avoid being trapped 23—“We were trapped”  53—She was trapped 58—feel trapped 88—I’d felt trapped 106—I was trapped 129—I felt trapped 235—felt as trapped  239—I was...trapped 242—and been trapped 308—I felt...trapped 320—as trapped...he was trapped 350—feeling trapped 356—I felt trapped. 383—Trapped, I slowly 396—I felt trapped 397—I felt trapped.

161—He couldn’t resist slipping a thumbnail under the [envelope] flap. The letter was penned in a familiar looping script...He pictured her laboring over the line...early drafts wadded in the trash can by the door. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 182—I was tempted...I couldn’t help myself. I slipped a fingernail under the [envelope] flap. 227—The note...was in King’s usual illegible scrawl. 383—I decided to write to them instead. But I wasn’t making much progress; crumpled wads of paper littered...the lined tablet

162—There were a handful of holdouts among the locals…First, you had to offer a fair price...his many negotiations with struggling farmers and sons of struggling farms reluctant to forsake the family land…make the seller believe the transaction would leave a legacy SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 237—Like his father, Sonny had always strenuously resisted change. 247—“Everyone has his price…First rule of business.” 290—”Look what happened to family farms 325—family farms…driving farmers off the land: development…real estate speculators 227—”protecting their inheritance.” 320—desire to claim his inheritance 362—his rightful inheritance 416—filial sense of inheritance. 425—claim his inheritance. 

163—He spun for his audience a vision of the island returned to its right and natural state. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 352—The vacant inlet returned to its natural, pristine state 327—their dream to restore the bay to its pristine state.

164—The next day it began to rain and did not stop for a full week. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 364—It rained the next day, too, and the next...it continued falling all week. 

164-165— “But it won’t be here,” Marcus replied, “once everybody else is gone.” NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 293—“Because…it’s here,” he stammered. 294-295—“All this”—he gestured wide—“all this will be gone.” 

167—Infant James was at her breast. Marcus had never felt comfortable in the presence of a woman nursing a baby...He directed his gaze out the sliding glass doors STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 342—The baby was...her breast. She... brought his [infant’s] lips to her nipple...Ordinarily, the sight of another woman’s nakedness would have made him modestly turn away 

169—Marcus wondered, not for the the first time SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 5—I thought, not for the first time

170—that anything in the world was his to give. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 128—He threw his arms wide to encompass not only the factory and marina, but the Cove, the Reach, even the Bay, as though it were his to give.

172—the presence of his wife in the features of his daughters. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 404-405—in his features I was able to glimpse a living, breathing embodiment of Sonny again 

173—The courtroom was windowless...lit by rows of fluorescent bulbs. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 68—[Bankruptcy courtroom] The hum of fluorescent lights...The absence of any windows 

174-175—”He [baby] looks like you,” Meredith said. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 404-405—the baby even looked like Sonny  

176—Then, in September, that in-between month, no longer summer, not yet fall STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 394—We were between seasons, a suspended interval that seems to contain facets of the one it is leaving behind and the approaching one in its bracing nights and balmy days, so that each day is a microcosm of the past and future, yet belongs to neither.

Does “Landfall” Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

181—When Angus was thirteen years old, his father had put him to work in the shipyard after school. Family tradition. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 50—the year I turned thirteen and started working on the farm…after school each day 404—”family tradition”

191—He looked at her, eyebrows bunched up in a question. IDENTICAL TO 192—King’s brows bunched together

209—everybody liked Russell NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 354—“Everybody likes Sonny.”

211—relief flooded Doodle IDENTICAL TO 400—Relief flooded through me.

211, 249, 250—Pruitt IDENTICAL TO 190-throughout—Pruitt

220, 221, 228, 229—King IDENTICAL TO 10-throughout—King

241—wind whistling through like breath over a bottle STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 13—One hand gripped the bottle. It whistled through the air

252-253—just him and his father. The cold, early mornings. The mist over the water and the lazy rising of the sun...Those mornings with his father...delivered without fail. Perfect quiet for hours. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 53—my father came to wake me. Together we’d silently head out into the perfectly still pre-dawn darkness. I always relished that moment, loved the unspoken sense of camaraderie...on those chill mornings

256—“Your grandmother wanted him to be the third,” she said…“Angus Bradshaw Random the third,” she said. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 404—I drew the line at...tacking on “III”

257—The close quarters and the forced quiet and the wavery light combined somehow to make Kathleen aware of her whole body, every muscle and bones, the follicles of her hair and the bottoms of her feet and the inside of her nose NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 266—I was suddenly aware of the tiny space 44—The wavering light 270—I was intensely aware of myself physically...Instead, I felt completely present, as though fully inhabiting my own skin. I was aware of those parts of my body that typically went unnoticed—scalp, nostrils, toes—and where they intersected with the world: the hair on my head...the cool wood beneath my soles. 

258-259—Between bursts of static, the radio murmured on about the storm...”According to the National Weather Service  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 184—the radio static 185—“What’s the forecast?”  125—the NOAA weather report 153—they...glued to the NOAA forecast, hoping for a break in the weather.

259—When they got bored with storm reports, Aunt Nora twirled the dial looking for music, found an AM station broadcasting hits from the eighties. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 345—He reached for the radio dial and rotated it until he found a slow jazz station 19—Golden Oldies played weakly on a radio.

260—The sky had opened up IDENTICAL TO 124—the sky opened up. 53—the horizon literally opened up

272-273—he...began to cry...she watched him cry in silence. “I love you,” she said STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 236—My face was wet, but whether it was from my tears or his…“I love you,” I whispered.

273—she let her eyes drift shut NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 172—I...let my eyes fall shut.

Does “Our Lady of the Roses” Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

64, 83, 90—Regina IDENTICAL TO 24-throughout—Regina

65—throughout Hadley NEARLY IDENTICAl TO 1—By Hayley

67—He was blond...not quite plump. Soft was the word. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 186—his...hair was...a straw-like blonde 203—He was soft 304—Don was soft and stocky...his hands were softer.

71—They [local girl friends] had seemed so proud of Hadley when she went off to school and they seemed pleased to have her home, back in the fold, but she had detected—or thought she had detected—a hint of gloating in their welcome as if they’d known all along she would return, nothing accomplished. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 38—She had left in triumph, the only girl in her high school to make it out of Big Valley. Now she’d been dragged back kicking and screaming. The wistful envy of these women, mothers of my schoolmates, congealed into haughty disdain...I gathered their mothers were both angry at her for failing to break away and at the same time smugly pleased about it. Like prisoners for whom an escaped inmate represents their own bid for freedom and whose capture defeats them all.

71—king IDENTICAL TO 10-throughout—King

71—He roamed the loft like a country politician, shaking hands SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 197—he began making his way through the crowd, pausing…shake hands...They looked for all the world like politicians

77—Hadley had to clear the floor on the passenger side of fast-food wrappers SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 178—I’d cleaned out the truck 55—[In truck] He leaned towards me across the maps and fast-food wrappers

80—Hadley had applied to...Columbia, because...none of those schools were less than five hundred miles from Mobile. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 103—He had picked Columbia primarily for its location—he wanted to get as far away from Trappe Island as possible

81—her classmates with their ambitious piercings and aggressive tattoos. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 156—two tattoos…a fierce-looking cross of thorns with droplets of blood cascading to her elbow…[and] a snake spiraling out of her navel. Caught in one of its fangs was a pierced gold hoop. Her ears were also pierced in dozens of spots

88—There was a Dumpster in the far corner of the lot. Hadley...flipped the bag over the lip. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 358—the landfill. Through the chain link fence...I reared back and heaved the envelope into the air. It sailed over the fence top and disappeared into the pit.

Does “Smash and Grab” Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING? 

47, 48, 49, 50—Pruitt IDENTICAL TO 190-throughout—Pruitt