Spoofer Captured by Spoof

Chris Elliott, the "man under the seats" on David Letterman's show, star of the movie "Cabin Boy" and TV series "Get a Life," and son of Bob Elliott (of "Bob and Ray") recently published his first novel--The Shroud of the Thwacker, from Miramax books. The book takes place in 1800s New York, where a serial killer is plaguing the city.

The book includes a mix of fact and fiction, with features such as wooden gas-powered cell phones and a time-traveling investigator named Chris Elliott. It also includes a Victorian-era mechanical robot named Boilerplate, which served with the Buffalo soldiers and Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American war.

This latter feature, which Elliott learned of from a website his brother Bob Elliott Jr. pointed him to, has resulted in a financial settlement between Elliott and graphic novelist Paul Guinan. Boilerplate, an invention of Guinan, also appears in his own book, Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate (IDW Publishing), published in July.

Apparently Elliott thought it was a spoof, but an old, public domain spoof.

The full story is at the New York Times.