Best of Shrdlu

Though I thought this was going to be a book about unfortunate typographical errors, it's more than that. These are excerpts from books, magazines, and even short stories where the author's intended meaning has somehow gone awry, whether due to misprint, mixed metaphors, unfortunate word choice, or subject matter. That last took me a while to get, because there are indeed a number of stories that appear to be exactly as printed, and are just so unusual as to be amusing. I will admit that I did not find the humor in all of them, and at times I was frankly puzzled before deciding to write it off to some unintentional double entendre that only makes sense if you're familiar with the most obscure British slang. All the same, it was good for show more the occasional giggle. show less

Parsons has released a number of collections of a mixture of editing mistakes and odd stories, and has based them around the character of Gobfrey Shrdlu, who he blames for the mistakes that appear in newspapers.

Some of the stories included are headscratchers, where one has trouble determining what exactly is funny about the entry, but others thankfully entertaining enough to keep you reading.

Some of my best stories include the woman who accepted a ride from a dark haired stranger and was robbed by a dwarf who jumped out of a box in the back seat, the porpoise found in the men's toilets at the Edinburgh railway station and the correction in the "Titusville Herald" that it was "Whistler's Mother" that was recently exhibited in the area, show more not "Hitler's Mother" as reported. As an on again/off again journalist, one can sympathise with the "Titusville Herald" editor, who wrote "There is nothing to be gained in trying to explain how the error occurred."

Also, I just found out that Parsons is the father of Alan Parsons of the Alan Parsons' Project fame. Small world. show less

One of Parsons's fine collections of newspaper, magazine, and, occasionally, book mistakes that pass from the commonplace into the risible. Together with genuine oddities that prove that humans need to laugh.