Seems like big kids and parents alike are getting a lot of writing mileage out of Go the Fuck to Sleep, Adam Mansbach’s playfully honest plea to his daughter to expedite her bedtime rituals.
The book and its hype have generated all kinds of discussion–on parenting, on the popularity of e-books, on the genre of “children’s books for adults.” Particularly interesting are the questions of whether the book would have been such a hit had it been written by a woman, considering the different scrutiny burdening moms who are learning to be perfect on the job.
Slate now has a great piece drawing on Proustian/Freudian themes that calls us all out on our over-analyzing of this book, noting that if the tables were turned and kids could write their own “children’s book for adults,” it would be titled along the lines of “Have a Fucking Drink and Stop Hovering.”
And for good measure, here is Werner Herzog’s reading, along with a wish list of other performers. Somehow the first name I’d like to add to that would be Laura Bush…
