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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Review: Go The F--k To Sleep by Adam Mansbach

Publisher: Akashic Books
Published: June 13, 2011
Pages: 32
Source: Free Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4 Stars - I Loved It!


Go the F--k to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach's verses perfectly capture the familiar—and unspoken—tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.

Brilliant. I took note of this satirical children's book immediately upon reading its colourful title, though I was not sure what to make of it until I read a bit about it. Go The F--k To Sleep is meant as a commentary on the sometimes silly bedtime stories parents read to their children to get them to go to sleep. Though I am not a parent myself and could not directly relate to the situation that Adam Mansbach presents, I do have a feel for the frustrations that parenthood can sometimes bring. Adam Mansbach has written a hilarious parody of a children's book that should definitely never be read to an actual child.

I listened to the free audiobook at Audible.com. In another stroke of brilliance, they hired Samuel L. Jackson to narrate it. Perfect choice for the narrator of a book that has an F-bomb in its title or what? In searching the YouTubes, I actually found a video with pictures from the book and read by Samuel L. Jackson. Enjoy!

17 comments :

  1. No way! Samuel L. Jackson?! Totally funny video.

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  2. OMG! Samual L Jackson!!
    Anyway, this one sounds amazing, ;)

    Great review.

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  3. Hilarious! I kind of just blankly stared at this title for a while trying to figure out if that's what it actually said of if I was hallucinating:) Love it!

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  4. Haha! This is too funny!! =) Nice review! =P

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  5. I laugh every time I see this book's title! Hilarious! I love that they got Samuel L Jackson to narrate--his voice is perfect! Thanks for the review! :)

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  6. Okay, the title had me, but then you had to mention the audiobook, and yeah...I'm sold! I'm definitely going to listen to it. Thanks for the review!

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  7. Lololol I couldn't stop giggling when I saw this in store and the audiobook's even better!

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  8. Love the video and Samuel L Jackson's narration-- hilarious! I laugh every time I see this one in bookstores, but this was the first I'd ever read (listened to) it. My parents often reminisce about the painful nights they spent trying to get my two year old self to sleep. I was the worst, apparently. :)

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  9. I love that you reviewed this book. And thank you for loving it and finding it funny. So many people got their panties in a bundle over it, as if no one ever before in the history of books wrote a parody or that we could never keep this out of kids' hands. I still don't find it all that shocking. Awesome review!

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  10. Logan: Oh, I wasn't aware of the controversy... though thinking about it now, it was to be expected I guess. Some people just don't understand satire unfortunately.

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  11. That's hilarious. Normally, I don't listen to audiobooks but this is one that I think will be fun to listen to. Thanks for reviewing it Aylee. I probably would have giggled at the title and then skipped it, thinking it was just for parents.

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  12. Haha, the title of this one sure is a winner! I've never listened to an audiobook, though I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

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  13. What a crazy book! Who would of thunk it. lol!

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  14. Cool! I've read about this book. Glad to hear you liked it. I know it's a top seller. That's awesome Samuel L. Jackson is the narrator!

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  15. Can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard at a book/audiobook! I found this one myself a couple of weeks ago and have been showing it to almost everyone I know ever since!


    And yup, Sam Jackson was the PERFECT choice to narrate this one!


    Smiles!
    Lori

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  16. Ha, Samuel L Jackson was definitely the best choice to narrate this! ;)

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  17. I've been seeing this book around Shelf Awareness but I didn't know what to think of it. That video is so funny! I don't have kids either, but after trying to put kids to bed when babysitting, I can totally relate to this book :P

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