The curious case of writer's stolen glasses and a £100,000 ransom note

Author Jonathan Franzen had his spectacles stolen by a thief who left a £100,000 ransom note.

The acclaimed American novelist was signing copies of his new book, Freedom, at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park last night when a man snatched his glasses from his nose and fled, leaving a note demanding cash for their safe return.

A police helicopter was scrambled to the royal park to search for the robber after reports that he had jumped into the Serpentine. The man was eventually caught and the author was reunited with his glasses this morning.

A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called at approximately 8.20pm and a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft. He was released this morning from a central London police station. The glasses were returned to their owner."

Last week, more than 70,000 copies of Freedom had to be pulped after it emerged that printers in the UK had used the wrong version of the text, containing dozens of spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Franzen is the current darling of American literature and recently appeared on the cover of Time magazine. His latest novel comes nine years after his best-selling The Corrections, and was President Barack Obama's holiday book choice.

But the adulation has sparked a backlash from some fellow writers, who have coined the phrase "Franzenfreude" to mean "taking pain in the multiple and copious reviews being showered on Jonathan Franzen".

It is thought the curious theft may have been an elaborate publicity stunt. A source close to Franzen dismissed it as a "harmless prank".