Novels are forged in passion, demand fidelity and commitment, often drive you to boredom or rage, sleep with you at night. They are the long haul. They are marriage. Stories, on the other hand, you can lose yourself in for a few weeks and then wrap up, or grow tired of and abandon and (maybe) return to later. They can cuddle you sweetly, or make you get on your knees and beg.

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. The publiDavid Leavittrs 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'").

David Leavitt (born June 23 1961) is an American novelist.