A road not taken: verified Cormac McCarthy account is fake

FILE - Author Cormac McCarthy attends the premiere of "The Road" in New York on Nov. 16, 2009. The Twitter account for the famous, and famously media-shy author is fake. The McCarthy account, @CormacMcCrthy, had more than 48,000 followers as of midday Monday, among them Stephen King. It was established in September 2018, but was only recently given a blue check for verification. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File) (Evan Agostini, AP2009)

NEW YORK ā€“ Sorry, Cormac McCarthy fans. That blue-checked Twitter account for the famous, and famously media-shy author is fake.

ā€œThe account referenced was verified by mistake and that has since been reversed,ā€ a Twitter spokesperson told The Associated Press on Monday. ā€œThe account will also be required to adhere to Twitterā€™s parody, newsfeed, commentary, and fan account policy.ā€

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The McCarthy account, @CormacMcCrthy, had more than 48,000 followers as of midday Monday, among them Stephen King. It was established in September 2018, but was only recently given a blue check for verification. Another McCarthy parody account from 2012 managed to fool Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who tweeted at the time ā€œWe have the best authors in the world right here.ā€

McCarthy, 88, rarely speaks to the press and has no known presence on social media. His novels include ā€œAll the Pretty Horses,ā€ ā€œNo Country for Old Menā€ and the Pulitzer Prize-winning ā€œThe Road.ā€ Some of the tweets on the current parody account make light of his unfamiliarity with technology.

ā€œMy publicist is on my case about my infrequent use of this infernal website,ā€ reads a tweet from last week. ā€œHe says engagement is down and so are metrics and something something who cares.ā€


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