Max Riffner

The Parlor

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Internet, You Have Made Me Happy...

...and this time, not for pornographic reasons at all.

I like reading The Morning News (ironically in the afternoon). For the last couple of years, I had been very much enjoying a series of columns called The Letters of Gary Benchley, which detailed the life and times of the writer, Benchley, and his quest to become the greatest living indie rocker of all time, starting in Brooklyn.

It was so good I knew it was fake right away. Gary Benchley wrote too well. I had a feeling I knew who the writer was, but I didn’t care. I was sold on the fictional identity and I didn’t want to spoil the illusion. Kind of like going with the whole Santa thing because you enjoy it anyway.

A few months ago, Gary wrote his last letter, informing his readers that he would be writing a book about his exploits. I stopped going to The Morning News site as much after that. Today, however, I was skimming my feeds and saw a new Gary Benchley update, in which it was finally revealed that Gary was in fact a creation of the brilliant Paul Ford (read Ftrain for awhile, and you’ll love it). Not only that, but the book has been written and is now for sale!

Now see, not only am I a Gary Benchley fan, but I am also a Paul Ford fan, and seeing this unfold online has made me too happy for words. I’m going to go eat some chocolate peanut butter cups now.

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