[Citation Needed]: The Best of Wikipedia's Worst Writing [Paperback]

Conor Lastowka (Author), Josh Fruhlinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2011

Do you need help telling the difference between a Renaissance Pope and an oracular octopus? Do you need details on what inappropriate body parts the attendees at Wing Bowl expose to one another? Do you need an accounting of which movies in the Air Bud series contain the fewest fart jokes? Fortunately, all these facts are lovingly recorded on Wikipedia, thus fulfilling the dreams of generations of scholars who worked towards a compendium of the world’s most vital information.

But how can you find these details, hidden as they are among boring facts about science and history and stuff? Fear not: For nearly two years, the blog [Citation Needed] has sifted through The Best of Wikipedia's Worst Writing. A thousand entries later, Conor Lastowka and Josh Fruhlinger have handpicked over 200 of their favorite examples of putrid prose and collected them here. Each entry features hilarious commentary from the authors, but they're confident you'll already be laughing by the time you get to it.

Praise for [Citation Needed]

"Wikipedia has long been my favored source of dubious scholarship, unverified assertions, press-release hagiography, and confusing recaps of comic books in long run-on sentences. It is not merely that this material is USEFUL to a writer of fake trivia. There is also a strange pleasure that comes in witnessing very bad writing and wondering at the human mind that conceives it, and why that mind is so preoccupied with the drama behind the scenes of House Party 4. I am just glad that I now have the best of the worst, all hilariously annotated by Fruhlinger and Lastowka, and all bound in one non-internet volume such that I can enjoy these bits of grim, awkward human poetry without feeling tempted to get into a huge online fight over the weight of Mr. Belvedere." -John Hodgman

"You will not be surprised to discover many of Wikipedia’s worst writing comes from entries with nerdy subjects, include Care Bears (and their suspect genders), Adult Diaper fetishes, bizarre assumptions about He-Man characters, and more. I’m convinced Topless Robot readers will love the hell out of it...Frulinger and Lastowka are not nearly as mean-spirited as I am and about five million times funnier. The book is available here at Amazon for $11. If you have a Kindle, the ebook is only $1, which is the most absurd entertainment value I’ve seen in quite some time." -Rob Bricken, ToplessRobot.com

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Josh Fruhlinger is the creator of the Comics Curmudgeon, a surprisingly successful blog that makes fun of Mary Worth and Apartment 3-G and proves that pretty much anyone can become mildly famous on the Internet for any reason whatsoever, as long as they update every day. He’s also written for the satirical political blog Wonkette, recorded a RiffTrax, and finished in third place on his only Jeopardy! appearance (the correct answer was “Golda Meir”). He lives in Baltimore with his wife Amber and his cat Hoagie.

Conor Lastowka has written for RiffTrax.com for the majority of its existence. He founded the fake holiday National High Five Day, plays bass in his fake band Re-Ree and hosts the all too real [Citation Needed] Podcast. He lives in San Diego with his wife Lauren and his cat Slidell.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (October 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1466346981
• ISBN-13: 978-1466346987
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Conor Lastowka is a writer for RiffTrax.com. He has co-authored two volumes of [Citation Needed] books, collecting and commenting on the best of Wikipedia's worst writing. His first novel, Gone Whalin' will be published later in 2013. He lives in San Diego with his wife Lauren and his cat Slidell.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful November 28, 2011

By IdeaTumblr

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

For some whatever reason that I don't quite understand, and being a person who doesn't generally more than chuckle in reaction to things, I have laughed loudly and heartily at almost every page of this. Most of the Wikipedia articles excerpted here are just so precious in their depictions of nerdy passion over their respective subject matter, and as a reader you feel that there's so much subtext to each one of them, that it's just such a damn pleasure to get to the one or two sentence jokey accompanying comment that follows. A good coffee table book, if anything.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtlely funny, much like Nairobi. October 25, 2011

By Sienna Harrell-Edge

Format:Paperback

This book is subtlely amusing and the author is quite the creative genius as he has compiled factually accurate Wikipedia entries for the purpose of doing research for a school project. Only if the project was due at a community college and the students looked like they just came out of a Deadmau5 show. Neverthless, the book produces a satire of Wikipedia by pointing out the informative nature of entries from Wikipedia contributors is only second to Youtube commenters.

It is definitely worth the bathroom read itself and serves as either a transition or complement to "What's Your Poo Telling You?" (also available on Amazon, [...])

The book is also great as a gift for your loved ones!

36 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Your wikipedia entry is a little pitchy, Dawg. October 24, 2011

By Kai Zabala

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Most of Wikipedia is done by amateurs, but is actually pretty good. Like some 17-year-old girl from Texas singing Etta James on the Motown episode of American Idol.

This book, however, is more like the first few weeks of that show. When an obese 39-year-old from Arkansas pretends to be 25 to get on the show, croaks through Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," refuses to leave the stage, tells Simon Cowell to go back to Great Britainland, then gives it one more shot with "Amazing Grace" before giving Randy Jackson a Bojangles receipt with her phone number written on the back and leaving.

Actually, this book is like if you asked that woman to provide 250-300 words on the religious history of Great Britainland.

People never cease to amaze you, in the heights and depths of what they are willing to do for free and with no formal training whatsoever.

And thank God somebody focused on the depths, because they are 1,000 million times more awesome. [Citation Needed]

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Required for Salvation, The Bible [Citation needed] October 27, 2011

By Grey Maggiano

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ok, maybe not. but,this is a hilarious compendium of mistakes, poor grammar, and shenanigans that proves true the long discussed Spaceballs Theorem "Evil will always triumph over good because Good is dumb." Are you a teacher looking to prove to your students that Wikipedia is not a credible source for research papers? A Luddite trying to prove that the internet is bad for the world? A cookie fanatic interested in the real story behind the Keebler elves? Then THIS is the book for you.

Plus it's 99 cents. Buy the book. Read it on your phone. It's better than reading your friend's facebook status about his ongoing battle with the toilet snake.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I Wish They'd Publish More December 8, 2012

By christopher

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I follow the Citation Needed Tumblr (and eagerly listened to every new podcast back when Conor et al made them), but what is missing from the website are all the truly laugh-out-loud jokes and commentaries found in this little book.

I wish they would publish new, updated books with new entries and jokes regularly, I'd gladly pay the paltry sum (and more). In the meantime, you should gladly pay the paltry sum for this book right now.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic December 7, 2012

By Lina Young

Format:Paperback

This book is fantastic. You could probably read through the whole thing in an hour, but it's ideal for just picking up and flipping to any given entry. Most of the wikipedia entries are funny enough on their own but the comments at the end are great as well. Highlights include Frankenberry, which I will never look at the same way again after learning of "Frankenberry Stool", Codpieces in Star Wars and the Wing Bowl. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is genius. June 24, 2012

By Clinton J. Boomer

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I stumbled across a link to this book after reading through about the last year of Comics Curmudgeon; for the price, in my opinion there's nothing in the world quite as delightful.

Now, this book is most certainly not for everyone -- read the free excerpt. If you laugh uproariously, then I highly encourage you to pick up the work. If not, close out the tab and find something else; there will be no judgement on my part if this isn't your "thing."

But for someone who adores the humor of Josh Fruhlinger & Conor Lastowka, this is a one-sitting read ... and a darn fine one, as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Quick Read May 22, 2012

By habeous

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book has short pages, usually a link, the offending passage, and a short remark. Sometimes, the passages are still there, and it's fun to giggle about. In some of the talk pages, there's a note: "Hey, this was featured in Citation Needed!" It's good to read when you've got time to kill, and want a little giggle. The pages are short so you can stop easily.