Funny Because It’s True

In 1988, a band of University of Wisconsin–Madison undergrads and dropouts began publishing a free weekly newspaper with no editorial stance other than “You Are Dumb.” Just wanting to make a few bucks, they wound up becoming the bedrock of modern satire over the course of twenty years, changing the way we consume both our comedy and our news. The Onion served as a hilarious and brutally perceptive satire of the absurdity and horrors of late twentieth-century American life and grew into a global phenomenon. Now, for the first time, the full history of the publication is told by one of its original staffers, author and historian Christine Wenc. Through dozens of interviews, Wenc charts The Onion’s rise, its position as one of the first online humor sites, and the way it influenced television programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Funny Because It’s True reveals how a group of young misfits from flyover country unintentionally created a cultural phenomenon.

• “The inside story of how a comedy institution was born in Wisconsin, cracked up the country, and changed the way we think about news and satire. I devoured it!”
  Patton Oswalt
• “Despite dozens of copycats, thousands of comedians, and an exhausting amount of late-night political commentary, The Onion stands alone as the strongest example of incendiary satire in America. Christine Wenc has provided us with a necessary and long overdue history of an enduring, influential gem.”
  Kliph Nesteroff, author of The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy
• “It feels weird being earnest about a history of The Onion but there's no way around it: I loved this book with all my heart. Funny Because It's True is a thrilling, inspiring must read for comedy nerds and normals alike. Christine Wenc has managed to write a book worthy of The Onion's greatness.”
  Simon Rich, author of Glory Days
• “The Onion might take silly things seriously, and so does this book—which documents one of the most original ideas to come out of Generation X with the intensity it deserves. Christine Wenc’s deep reporting and you-are-there-anecdotes make sure that everyone knows The Onion’s brilliance is no accident.”
   
  Tricia Romano, author of The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Village, the Radical Newspaper That Changed American Culture
• “You may ask whether a ‘fake news’/news parody outlet deserves such a serious work of history. After you see how The Onion and its writers sparked some of the great comedy that has helped us survive this dreadful century, your answer may well be ‘Yes!’”
  Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting)
• “A wonderful portrayal of a seminal part of America's comedy canon.”
  Matt Walsh, actor and founding member of Upright Citizens Brigade
• “Meticulously researched, with an appealing what-the-heck wildness.”
  New York Times
• “An affectionate, insider-y account of the paper’s beginnings, glory years and more recent rocky times . . . The book conveys the renegade spirit and eclectic cast of Midwesterners who created the groundbreaking weekly.”
  Bloomberg
• “[A] thorough and thoughtful history . . . The book is not just newspaper history, but an obituary for a generation’s countercultural principles. Serious reading about funny business.”
  Kirkus Reviews
• “[A] surprisingly earnest celebration of a comedy institution.”
  Publishers Weekly