Author has wholesome interaction with fan reading his book without revealing his true identity

Interactions between celebrities and their fans are often special. Fans, after all, help make someone a superstar. Joseph Fasano, an American poet and novelist, recently experienced his own stardom in a unique way. While flying to Scotland, he noticed the stranger beside him was reading his book. Delighted but unsure how to react, he turned to X (formerly Twitter) for advice. 

His post read, “The person next to me on this airplane is reading my novel. Should I say anything?” Beneath the caption, he shared a snap of his fellow passenger’s trayt-table where his book titled "The Swallows of Lunetoo" was laid out. “The Swallows Of Lunetto” is a novel about a young couple escaping from Italian fascism at the end of the Second World War. 

The post grabbed the attention of over 2.4 million people and received over 700 comments. @recycledgiraffe hilariously advised the author to reveal his identity near the end of the flight. Otherwise, he'll "have to talk the entire time." Another user, @fgalanma, suggested the author flip the book so that the reader could see his photo printed at the back. To this, the author replied that at that moment, he didn't look anything like his picture. 

It seemed that the author couldn’t contain his excitement, for he continued the X thread by suggesting some ideas himself. In one of his posts, he questioned whether he should ask the woman if this book was better than his last one. The post read, “I'm thinking of whispering, ‘Is it better than the last one?’” He kept on describing his moment-to-moment experience.

Within 3 minutes of his last update, he posted, “They just opened it to page 10 so this is going to be an interesting ride.” Not being able to curb his excitement, the author talked to the reader. "I asked them if they're traveling for work or fun and they said 'just a little trip to see family,' and looked directly at me for a moment," he updated.

Within a few minutes, he continued the thread, informing his followers that his flight was about to take off, so he might lose network. He asked them to keep giving suggestions. "Ok, I might lose service when we take off, but keep the suggestions coming & I'll check them before I make my decidedly awkward interaction when we land," he wrote. 

His post was flooded with ideas and advice. @opinionsnotmine told the author to "wait until they go to the bathroom and autograph it." Another user, @EastlandKathy, commented, "Please video their reaction!" @Lmaxt suggested the author ask the reader if they liked the book and then reveal their identity. He wrote, "Mind if I ask: 'How do you like the book?' They may tell you, and are likely to ask, 'Have you read it?' That's when you tell them." Fasano found this suggestion interesting and seemed to have gone ahead with it. 

In the next update, the author revealed the conversation he had with the reader. He updated his followers that he made a new friend. As per his post, he approached the reader and asked if she was enjoying the book. The reader replied, "I think so. Have you read it?" The author replied that he has read it about "100 times," leaving her surprised. There was a slight pause after the conversation and now they are "buds." He signed her copy, “To Jan, Thanks for taking me on your journey – your seat-mate.” 

Fasano tagged this interaction with Jan as a “magical moment.” He said, “It was a great way to just meet somebody and talk, and it’s funny because writing literature is an attempt to connect to other people, but you never expected it to be a real-life connection like that. So it was a pretty magical moment!”

Editor's note: This article was originally submitted on March 15, 2024. It has been updated.