Friday Frivolity: J.K. Rowling Doesn't Exist

In the truth is stranger than fiction category, Norwegian film director Nina Grünfeld is utterly convinced that J.K. Rowling isn’t real and that her Harry Potter novels are the product of ghost writers.

"I may be both paranoid and conspiratorial, but I can't shake the thought that JK Rowling is a pseudonym along the same lines as Carolyn Keene," wrote Grünfeld, the 36-year-old daughter of a prominent psychiatrist who's been decorated by King Harald. Grünfeld recently completed a highly acclaimed documentary on her father's life as a juvenile Jewish refugee from Slovakia who was sent to Norway in the 1930s, and knows all too well the challenges artists face in securing financing for projects.

So challenging as to create a mythical Rowling? Grünfeld thinks so.

"But can a person be so productive and commercially successful in a media industry where nothing is left to coincidence?" wondered Grünfeld. "Is it possible that a person can write six thick books that are translated into 55 languages and sell more than 250 million copies in less than 10 years? Is it probable that the stories then get filmed and commercially exploited to the degree seen here, without any well-thought-out strategy or highly professional players behind them?"

And then came Grünfeld's provocative question: "Is it possible that JK Rowling exists?" Her own answer: "Well, who do they think they're kidding? Not me!"

I don’t buy Grünfeld’s story. I think it’s all plagarism of Phil Johnson’s biography.