The whole mention of shin splints & the proximity to trees just strengthens my resolve in thinking he’s Pinocchio. What’s more, his being hurt that Emma would call him a liar reminds me of a quote, & we all know how August likes to use his knowledge of the literary. If I were him, I would have retorted & said ” a closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.”
& seeing as he keeps bringing up literature ( & his being an author ) part of me thinks that he may have been either hiding or boarded up in the library before Emma came to town. I think someone had suggested he could have been the town librarian, although I forget who. When in effect, there is the possibility he is both Pinocchio & the SB librarian.