"The literary world is no safe haven from wild conspiracy theories. It has its own supposed cover-ups, extraterrestrials, and cryptids lurking in the bookish backwoods. These conspiracy theories aren't typically harmful and can even offer some fun lore to draw you into the reading. Like all conspiracy theories, though, they distort our understanding of reality and history, and they can sometimes extend beyond the page to have far-reaching consequences."
"And it's understandable why readers sometimes doubt the authenticity of the name on the cover. For one, many authors use pseudonyms. Mary Ann Evans adopted the pen name "George Eliot" because she believed male novelists were taken more seriously; Stephen King became "Richard Bachman" because he was too prolific for the standard publishing cycle; and Benjamin Franklin pretended to be the dowager "Silence Dogood" to prank his brother James."
The literary world hosts conspiracy theories that range from playful lore to distortions of reality with real consequences. Many conspiracies center on questions of authorship and attribution. Authors have historically used pseudonyms: Mary Ann Evans as George Eliot, Stephen King as Richard Bachman, and Benjamin Franklin as Silence Dogood. Some canonical attributions remain uncertain, as with Homer or Chinese figures like Lao Tzu and Sun Tzu, where oral traditions and honorific naming complicate authorship. Modern rumors about figures such as Thomas Pynchon, J.D. Salinger, Truman Capote, and Harper Lee circulate despite being false. The most sweeping authorship conspiracies concern Shakespeare.
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