Ten years of Pardon My Take content got turned into a book, and now that book is a certified New York Times bestseller. For a podcast that built its entire identity on not taking itself seriously, watching "Pardon My Book" land on one of publishing's most prestigious lists is the kind of plot twist nobody saw coming a decade ago when Big Cat and PFT Commenter were just two guys riffing on segments like Who Said It and the Anti-Whatever Guy.
Big Cat kicked off the victory lap with a mix of gratitude and trademark self-deprecation, thanking everyone who bought the book while razzing every other author who's ever hit #1 on the list.
Thanks to everyone who purchased Pardon My Book. Appreciate it more than you know. And apologies to everyone who is a #1 NYT bestseller after us. We’ve completely devalued it)
That's peak Big Cat — can't just say thank you, has to also imply the entire NYT bestseller list is now a joke because Pardon My Take is on it. It's the same energy that's made the show a top sports podcast for a decade: give the fans credit, then immediately undercut the achievement before anyone else can.
PFT Commenter joined the celebration with his own brand of ironic humility, pointing out that his college transcript wouldn't have predicted a spot on a literary bestseller list.
I got a d- in English composition in college 🍻
He followed it up by thanking the fans in the same breed of tongue-in-cheek tone, dubbing the people who actually bought and read "Pardon My Book" as "Award Winning Readers." It's a small line, but it captures the whole vibe of this book campaign — treat a legitimate publishing accomplishment with maximum irreverence.
Thank you to all the Award Winning Readers
The reactions from around the Barstool orbit followed suit, with accounts like Pardon My Meme piling on with jokes about the irony of a New York Times bestseller author who apparently didn't leave the best impression on a high school English teacher. It's the kind of self-own that only works because the accomplishment is real — you can't clown your own literary credentials unless you actually have them now.
"Pardon My Book" arrives as a 10-year retrospective on the show's run, packaging a decade of bits, characters and chaos into something you can technically put on a shelf. Whatever the sales numbers end up being long-term, the New York Times stamp is a real one, and it's fair to say nobody at Pardon My Take is going to let anyone forget it.