Go the [Bleep] to Sleep: Tender Tales for Sleepy Adults
No one was more surprised than Adam Mansbach when Go the Fuck to Sleep became a bestseller in advance sales. Definitely not for children, this book is intended to reflect the frustration of paren'ts whose little (non-sleeping) angels remain wide awake long after their bedtimes. Mansbach, a prof at Rutgers University, a novelist (The End of the Jews), and a first-time paren't, was inspired to publish this book after he joked on Facebook that this would be the name of his next novel – and received an overwhelmingly postive response. See his interview on ABC news. Listen to his interview on CBC.
Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of childrens' storytellers, American actor, Samuel L. Jackson and German director, Werner Herzog naturally spring to mind.
Listen to Samuel L. Jackson's tender interpretation.
And here is Werner's version.
Read what the NY Times, the Washington Times, and the Globe and Mail have to say. The U.K. Guardian writes about the curious phenonemon of children's books for adults.
Read what the New Yorker says about nervous publishers dealing with profanity-laced bestsellers in a post-Cee Lo universe. Forget you, indeed.
Will pare
nts find this funny? Of course. No doubt some paren'ts will find this offensive, or dismiss it as a one-joke gimmick. Serious paren'ting pundits will wade in to argue for or against the book's "premise." One thing is for sure – this book stands to make a lot of money.
For those who prefer to hear bedtime tales with an old lady whispering 'hush,' there is always the classic Goodnight Moon.
(author Adam Mansbach with his daughter)
3 thoughts on “Go the [Bleep] to Sleep: Tender Tales for Sleepy Adults”
Liked the Samuel L Jackson rendition. I found Herzog’s unsettling. I kept expecting him to pull out a gun and threaten the kid.
Goodnight Keith Moon as described in the Guardian article you mentioned sounds great. Loved the illustration of the demolished bedroom, complete with spew, all done in the style of Clement Hurd.
I agree with the above – I was trying to think of other great readers for this book. I saw lots of these in the store in time for Father’s Day.
Wow, it seems like everyone I speak to is talking about this book, I got an email about it last week from library link of the day – and then I found out that Samuel L Jackson was narrating it in an audiobook, now its on the TPL blog, I’m so excited to hear it – an adult bedtime story…very nice