Charlie Gasparino and Andrew Ross Sorkin both wrote big, impressive books about the financial crisis that were released around the same time. As though that weren't enough to stoke competitive feelings, bloggers are egging them to say disparaging things about one another. Last time it was Bess Levin from Dealbreaker and The Business Insider's John Carney who helped stage a scuffle. This time, The Business Insider steps up to act as catfight facilitator yet again:

The Chart: It all started when finance blogger Paul Kedrosky posted a chart comparing books on the financial crisis by "the number of fucks per page"--i.e., the amount of swearing in quotes from financiers. Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big to Fail topped the list with 20 instances over all and 0.03 "fucks per page." Gasparino's The Sellout came in second with 10 instances at a rate of 0.02 per page, while Gregory Zuckerman's The Greatest Trade Ever only had two instances and the other two titles had none.

The Set-Up: It didn't take long for Joe Weisenthal to offer his interpretation: "SHOCKER," read his headline, "Sorkin Drops More F-Bombs Than Gasparino Does." Barely two hours later, he'd acquired an explanatory quote from Gasparino:

When I checked quotes, people said they didn't say some the stuff I had heard they said and when I ran it by other parties they agreed. Larry Fink was a good example; I had him say "mother f**ker" several times until he protested and when I bounced it off the other half of the conversation he agreed

The Gauntlet: Weisenthal helpfully adds his own spin:

Translated: I fact-checked more aggressively than Sorkin did.

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Heather Horn