A road not taken: Verified Cormac McCarthy account is fake

NEW YORK (AP) — Sorry, Cormac McCarthy fans. That blue-checked Twitter account for the famous, and famously media-shy author is fake.

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

The McCarthy account, @CormacMcCrthy, had nearly 50,000 followers as of Tuesday morning, 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 "We have the best authors in the world right here."

McCarthy, 88, rarely speaks to the press and has no known presence on social media. His novels include "All the Pretty Horses," "No Country for Old Men" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Road." Some of the tweets on the current parody account make light of his unfamiliarity with technology.

"My publicist is on my case about my infrequent use of this infernal website," reads a tweet from last week. "He says engagement is down and so are metrics and something something who cares."