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Go the F--k to Sleep cover art

Go the F--k to Sleep

By: Adam Mansbach
Narrated by: Samuel L. Jackson
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Summary

Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) rocks this mock bedtime story, capturing a hilarious range of emotions as the voice of a father struggling to get his child to sleep. 

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. California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach’s profane, affectionate, and radically honest verses perfectly capture the familiar - and unspoken - tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, he opens up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity. Beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny, Go the F--k to Sleep is a book for parents new, old, and expectant. Due to its explicit language, you probably should not play it for your children. 

"I was anxious to do the audio read of this book because my agent has twins and he gave me the book and I read it and I fell out laughing. And I remember all those times when I did read to my daughter when she was that age and everybody tells you that reading stories will put kids to sleep, but it never works. It didn’t in my house. Actually if I picked her up and made up a story it worked a lot better. But I did say ‘Go the F--k to Sleep’ to her a lot, and I think at some point she would look at me when I would come into her room, and she would look at me and say ‘Go the F--k to Sleep, Daddy!’. And I would say ‘Yeah, go the f--k to sleep'." - Samuel L Jackson

©2011 Adam Mansbach (P)2011 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"Total genius." (Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn, father of two)
"I wish this book had been around during my daughter's overly protracted sleep rituals! Finally, someone tells it like it really is. This is no-guilt funny and a godsend!" (Cristina Garcia, author of The Lady Matador's Hotel, mother of one)
"A children's book for grown-ups! I really did laugh out loud - hilarious!" (David Byrne, musician, father of one)

What listeners say about Go the F--k to Sleep

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • KG
  • 07-04-13

Sleepy time. . ?

This short listen is amusing and beautifully read by Samuel L Jackson, in a way only he could. It is a mantra for anyone who has ever tried to close down a busy day with a dear little one who has other plans. Some listeners may find the language near the knuckle, or even offensive, but it is heartfelt and never cruel. It certainly well expresses a situation serially experienced by many on a nightly basis.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Good book...GREAT narration

I must commend Samuel L Jackson for this great narration, his tone was filled with frustration which gave a better feel of the context of this book...Samuel's narration was very entertaining- he read with such passion and feeling stimulating one's imagination---engaging his listeners...this was just awesome

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

reeee

reeeeeeeee reeeeeee reeeee ree re re re re re re re re re re reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hi

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Absolutely brilliant!!
So good for all those who were or have children. Listen to this over and over

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A perfect choice, for the wee one(s) bed time.

**NON SPOILER REVIEW**

This book offers depth, insight and creative desperation for those moments of bliss one often miss's when the gremlins will not go THE F**K TO SLEEP!.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Parental Resonance!

captured the groundhog day of reading a bedtime story over and over to your children!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love it

Lovely short story with an amazing voice actor giving it all the vocal expression needed to trigger PTSD and flashbacks of every bedtime.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Samuel L Jackson narration is fantastic!

Loved this. Samuel L Jackson is great (including his intro to the book). Get it - only 6 mins and very VERY funny.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • c
  • 18-07-11

Great Fun!

Made me laugh and brought back memories of long evenings with no peace and quiet, longing for the children to sleep!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant if you know the frustration...

...of begging a child to fall asleep when you're struggling to stay awake yourself or have limited time to get them off to bed, whether or not you're a parent. I wouldn't call it fall-off-your-chair hilarious, but it was funny enough to keep me chuckling every now and then. I certainly sympathise with anyone put in this position.

As far as earlier reviews are concerned, I think some of the more uptight listeners (why download this if you never swear?) missed the fact that only an exceptionally bad parent or babysitter would *actually* wind up cursing this much at a child at a stretch, and that it's almost certainly intended to be an internal monologue.

Really, though, don't tell me you've never felt the urge to swear at a kid you're looking after when you're frustrated to your limit and they just. won't. give. I wouldn't believe it!

If "blasphemy" (as per a previous reviewer) or more than one swear-word in a story this length will upset you, seriously, don't bother with this. It's far more directed at the kind of people who understand that words can sometimes just be words, and might only be used for emphasis.

Otherwise... enjoy! But maybe don't read this to kids under ten (any older and they'll probably have heard the words at school anyway), unless they're like me and read everything they can get their sticky paws on no matter how old they are. ;)

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1 person found this helpful