The Satirical Newspaper the Onion Once Ran a Story Headlined

Essay

The satirical newspaper The Onion once ran a story headlined "Man Reading Pynchon on Bus Takes Pains to Make Cover Visible." The story then went on to describe a bus passenger reading a book by the critically acclaimed, but difficult and confusing, author Pynchon. Instead of holding the book on his lap, he held it directly in front of his face so the front was visible to everyone, and he occasionally glanced about to see if anyone noticed. What would Erving Goffman say about this?