Book Review: The Best of Shrdlu by Denys Parsons
Denys Parsons put out a series of books reprinting not just fun typographical errors (which he attributed to the mischief of Gobfrey Shrdlu, a mysterious goblin-like creature) but also what might be called “news of the odd”, alternating pages between “Funny Ha-Ha” and “Funny Peculiar.” This collection combing out some of the best bits from previous volumes and a number of new fun items came out in 1981.
Unlike The Bumper Book of Boobs, which reproduced the clippings they were drawing from, this book resets everything in neat typeface, making it considerably easier to read. There’s also a bit less emphasis on the naughty/vulgar in the selections, so this might be a better choice for sensitive readers. There’s some uncredited cartoons to illustrate various items.
The “funny ha-ha” items tend to have amusing misspellings, unfortunate word order, be run-ons that make it difficult to determine the subject of adjectives, or have completely different sentences dropped in by accident. Some examples:
“We see sexual promiscuity as a prime factor in increasing our divorce rate and in undermining mahogany which we believe to be basic to our social structure.”
“British customs officers seized 407 pounds of macaroni aboard a ship from marijuana hidden in packs of India, it was learned Saturday. The haul, estimated to be worth at least $100.000, is one of the largest ever seized in Britain.”
“A 17-year-old boy died in the New Plymouth hospital as a result of injuries received in a car crash at Inglewood. He was Rex Manton, who died less than two hours after the accident. His condition was reported tonight to be satisfactory.”
A few of the items do require a knowledge of British slang to understand why they’re funny.
And now some examples of “funny peculiar.”
“Marie who lives in Audley Range said today: ‘I have always wanted to be a gnome ever since I read in a magazine article about what people’s reactions might be to a real live gnome.'”
“CHRISTCHURCH–A witness in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday said he helped a man wearing a bloodstained shirt push the body of a woman into the back of a small van parked in a picnic area one night last month. He said the body was covered with a bedspread which was ‘absolutely covered with blood.’ After the man had driven off without saying ‘Thank you’ or ‘Goodbye’ and without offering him a cigarette, he thought murder must have been done and notified the police.”
“WOMAN OF 71 BANNED FROM WALKING RACE–A grandmother aged 71 was banned yesterday from a Yorkshire mining village’s Bank Holiday walk because officials said she was a professional athlete.”
There’s also an exchange of letters to the editor about the legality of eating wild duck eggs I found amusing.
It may say something about my interests in the early 1980s that I purchased both this book and the Bumper Book (and I see a third one in my to read pile on the same general topic) in the same year. Still, it is an amusing read. There was an entire series of Shrdlu books, so you might have decent luck finding one for yourself or a bright teenager with a love of typographical error humor.
