Has Don DeLillo really joined Facebook?
Salman Rushdie's not sure -- he wrote on "DeLillo's" wall that "I'm going to be a bit suspicious of this until I've spoken to you" -- and we're not convinced, either. (Last year, a phony DeLillo Twitter account was pulled down.)
Of course, that didn't stop us from friending him -- and it hasn't stopped hundreds of writers and literary types and hopeful fans, either. Who can resist "David Daley and Don DeLillo are now friends"? Not many, as you'll see by scrolling through his friends, which include not only famous writers but also agents, media world folks and the inventor of rotisserie baseball.
But let's say there's even a chance it's him. This morning, just a little after 7 a.m., he began crowdsourcing a short story with the line "2016, june. Overnight. Connecting." He urged friends to continue. (Screen shot below.)
Now writing a story in this most un-DeLillo way might be enough to prove it's not him. As Laura Miller wrote this morning as we debated the authenticity of the account over email, "It’s hard to believe that DeLillo would crowdsource anything. If there was ever someone who believed more in the oracular authority of the lone writer, I’d like to know who."
Laura's usually right. But this may be your chance to work on a story with DeLillo, or at least to think you did, until the whole thing is revealed to be a hoax.
We have an email into his representatives and will update when we get a response.
UPDATE, 9:54 a.m.: A spokesperson for Scribner, DeLillo's publisher, says it is not him. "It's not actually Don DeLillo, and neither he nor Scribner had anything to do with it. We are asking Facebook to take down the page."
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