Eyebrow-raising news from across the Atlantic. In the past 24 hours, Cormac McCarthy appears to have joined Twitter, had a mini love-in with Margaret Atwood ("Please excuse my intrusion. The Handmaids tale is work that will endure the ages"; "Hello! I've long enjoyed your work! T-pals, please welcome Cormac McCarthy!") and amassed over 3,000 followers. "This old stranger was just saying hello ... An infant swimmer in the twitter ocean. Vigilant and raw and blithe." The tone was convincing; could it really be him? On the one hand, he is famed for his devotion to his typewriter, and doesn't seem the sort to embark on a late-life foray into modern technology. On the other he did appear on Oprah once, after all ...

Unfortunately, his publisher, Vintage & Anchor, was quick to claim that @CormacCMcCarthy is actually an imposter, tweeting yesterday that "he doesn't own a computer", and that "we've verified the @CormacCMcCarthy handle is not the real deal".

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted – although I think comments like "I just pet a dog and it lapped my hand. A dog cant be duped. I love dogs" would have given the game away soon enough even without the publisher getting involved. And anyway, I think I prefer my vision of McCarthy to remain remote, mysterious, intriguing, rather than having him bare all online, @SalmanRushdie-style. As author James Hynes put it: "what's next? Pynchon on LinkedIn?"

Stay reclusive, oh icons of American literature, I beg you.