The Unreclusive Recluse (a.k.a. The Pynchon Hoax)

The New Yorker reveals that it got taken by a hoax involving Thomas Pynchon in the 90s. The band Lotion let it be known that Pynchon was in the habit of attending their shows. Some of what they said was true, some not, and eventually the story wound up in the New Yorker:

Here is the band's current version of events: They had, in fact, met Pynchon, but they did so through his accountant, who happened to be the mother of Lotion's drummer, Rob Youngberg. She gave Pynchon an advance copy of...