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jonathan franzen's famous glasses
You may know Jonathan Franzen for his award-winning 2001 novel The Corrections, or you may know him as "that guy with the geeky glasses" Well, Franzen almost had to quit his glasses-modeling career and focus on his writing, because someone stole his spectacles right off his face at a book event for his new novel Freedom in London on Monday night. The thief left behind a ransom note before running off to (apparently) list the glasses on eBay for 100,000 British pounds.

It seems like a straightforward prank until you look at the eBay listing. First, the glasses pictured on eBay don't look much like Franzen's distinctive specs. Also, the seller claims to have hijacked the account of the Big Green Bookshop, which apparently had nothing to do with the Franzen event. There's even a disclaimer that warns, "Please understand this is a spoof. Perhaps."
Fake eBay listing for Jonathan Franzen's glasses
Well, the eBay listing is a spoof, but the rest of the story is completely true. The New York Times says that Franzen's glasses were returned after a search that involved police helicopters. The thief was discovered hiding in the bushes, and the whole thing was apparently "some kind of performance art," according to Franzen's publisher in the UK.

Speaking of spoofs, though, one of the funniest things to come out of this incident was posted by a fake Franzen Twitter account: "TO THE THIEF WHO STOLE MY GLASSES: I need them back to read your friggin' ransom note. Idiot."

The real Franzen won't be pressing charges, as this was apparently just another day in the glamorous life of a famous glasses-wearer.