'Go The F**k To Sleep': Kosher Version

from the halal-version-presumably-right-around-the-corner dept

As Dr. David Arredondo suggested during his panicked moralizing, if Go the F**k to Sleep had been written about "Jews, blacks, Muslims or Latinos," we would all immediately stop our hearty chortling and view Mansbach's best-seller as the evil racist book it actually is.

Good news, everybody! Someone did exactly that! Marc Tracy over at The Tablet converted Mansbach's bedtime story to Judaism (so to speak) and has knocked one "marginalized group" off Arredondo's list. Here's an excerpt:

It's Yom Kippur, and you're far away,
The last thing I want's to be cruel.
I'm your mother, son, you know I adore you,
But please go the fuck to shul.

You'd only go for a few hours,
Shorter than a full day of school.
You'll probably run into people you know
If you go the fuck to shul.

We don't observe the birth of Christ, son,
This isn't some lame fucking Yule.
It's the Day of Atonement, a big deal:
Go the fuck to shul.

Go ahead, eat something beforehand.
Gay gezunt, no reason to drool.
I'm not asking you to believe in it,
Only to go to fucking shul.

The whole thing can be read at the link above.

With that out of the way, and no one the worse for wear, I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before Dr. Arredondo emerges again, perhaps to make a statement like: "Well, that's all good for the Jewish community, but this only highlights how often authors (and bloggers) exclude blacks, Muslims and Latinos from their mockery."

You can't win, but what the hell? You'd think at least we'd be allowed to laugh without having to keep all of these "possible" (I'm using that term loosely, hence the quotes) ramifications at the back of our minds, just in case. Or maybe Dr. Arredondo could have used some of the time he put into creating a set of victims into researching Adam Mansbach, who has already written other books dealing with Dr. A's favorite underserved demographics.

There's The End of the Jews, which "explores the creative interchange between blacks and Jews and the give-and-take dynamic of artistic partnership." Angry Black White Boy is described as Mansbach applying a monkey-wrench to "the formula of the angry black man in the white man's world" and "cutting to the heart of the issue of race in America today." So, if anyone would have written a book dealing with sleep, the word f**k and multi-culturalism, it would have been the evidently fully-qualified Mansbach. And since he didn't do it, there's really no reason to assume that he just forgot to, no matter how perversely happy that would have made a certain overwrought doctor.

The books is, and will always remain, simply a piece of satire. If anyone wants to read anything else into it, they'll have to drag their interpretations, kicking and screaming, into the book and beat them with Fists of Twisted Logic +2 until they fit.

Filed Under: adam mansbach, go the fuck to sleep

Artist Behind 'Go The F**k To Sleep' Gives Away Free Illustrated Book On Jury Nullification

from the go-the-f**k-to-court dept

We've written a few times about now about the book Go The F**k To Sleep, and how it (accidentally) used piracy of the work to become a huge success. We've also written a few times about the issue of jury nullification, and the troubling trend of people being arrested outside of courthouses for passing out documents that explain jury nullification. And here's a story that combines the two ("go the f**k to the jury?").

The artist who drew the images, Ricardo Cortes, (and, yes, who was accused of copying the works of others), has apparently just come out with a new work, which is an illustrated guide to jury nullification, which he's offering as a free download off of his website. While he certainly doesn't expect it to catch on like the other book (hint: needs more funny stuff that can be totally misinterpreted by crazy people), he's hoping that it does get some attention.

"It's definitely not such a project of mainstream appeal," Cortes tells Fast Company. "Obviously from my perspective, it would be a beautiful thing if as many people were as interested in this [as Go The Fuck To Sleep]. But I can't perceive Samuel Jackson reading this book aloud."

Apparently he's also going to courthouses to hand out copies himself. Given that we've seen folks getting arrested for the same thing, perhaps he's going to end up getting extra attention for the booklet that way as well...

Filed Under: go the fuck to sleep, jury nullification, ricardo cortes

Reading 'Go The F**k To Sleep' May Lead To Child Abuse And Racism*

from the *of-course-it-won't-but-don't-let-that-stop-you dept

We've detailed the viral sensation that is Adam Mansbach's Go the F**k to Sleep, including its pirate-ship ride into the national consciousness and its eventual explosion as an actual printed book (with attendant movie deal). And everyone who has a kid, or has had a kid, can see the humor behind the good-natured f-bombs and recognizes the frustration inherent in getting a child to, well, follow the title's advice.

Oh, wait. I was wrong. Apparently, not everyone can see the humor in a foul-mouthed "children's book". They just have to look really long and hard to find something to be offended about. Not only that, but they actually have to make a bunch of stuff up in order to turn this viral sensation into the worst thing since the last moral panic.

Take Jean Demarest, an attorney from Oregon:

Demarest told me that initially she thought the book was funny. That was before she read it. "Now I find it unsettling. I don't like violent language in association with children."

She has good reason to be concerned about the message behind such a parody. Demarest was the prosecuting attorney in one of Oregon's most high-profile child murder cases. She understands the fear that far too many children endure because the lines of what's appropriate parenting have become blurred.

Nobody is suggesting that there's a connection between Adam Mansbach's book and child abuse or child neglect. Still, there's no denying the reason "Go the F*** to Sleep" should be kept out of reach of children is because of its violent language and because of the way it demeans children."

Demarest may be disturbed by the book's language, but considering her line of work, it's understandable that she might be. My argument is not with her take on the book, as quoted.

However, the author of this post, Karen Spears Zacharias, has decided to use Demarest as a lead-in to a bunch of her own conclusions, none of which were stated by a respected attorney who recently dealt with a child's murder.

Sure, "nobody's suggesting that there's a connection" between Go the F**k to Sleep and child abuse, but Zacharias wastes a whole lot of words not suggesting it. For instance, I could say, "I'm not suggesting that Zacharias has never enjoyed anything wholeheartedly in her life, but there's no denying the fact that this article is about as much fun as removing asbestos with your teeth."  Now, I haven't actually suggested anything, but I've certainly shifted everyone's perception of Zacharias.

This is just the setup. To really not enjoy Go the F**k to Sleep, you have to use your IMAGINATION!

"Imagine if this were written about Jews, blacks, Muslims or Latinos," says Dr. David Arredondo. He is an expert on child development and founder of The Children's Program, in the San Francisco metropolitan area, which provides consultation and training for those working with troubled youths.

It is hard to imagine this kind of humor being tolerated by any of the marginalized groups Arredondo cited. Consider the lines on page 3:

"The eagles who soar thru the sky are at rest
And the creatures who crawl, run and creep.
I know you are not thirsty. That's bulls**t.
Stop lying.
Lie the f*** down, my darling, and sleep."

HOLYFRICKINWHAAAA???? WHATTHEF***AREYOUTALKINGABOUTMAN?

Imagine!

Can you imagine??!!!

What if... and I want you to stay with me on this... What if... you're going to love this... what if someone wrote a book that said nothing derogatory towards anybody but instead parodied the wholesomeness of children's books by making it a profanity-laden plea directed at a wired-up child?

Imagine that! Imagine someone having a bit of laugh and finding out, much to his surprise, that the humor was universal!

Oh, but I see you have no imagination. Instead, what you have, Dr. Arrendondo, is the same thing that insurance fraud artists have: a desire to "play the victim." Without anyone, anywhere, ever having said anything about any race, creed, nationality, etc., you've managed to drag your issues into the middle of a viral sensation to somehow prove a point that didn't need to be made, and for that matter, a point that doesn't even really exist.

First of all, you marginalize every one of those groups yourself by referring to them as "marginalized." Then, you conjure up some sort of racist boogeyman who travels side-by-side with the F-word until everyone dies of culture shock.

Zacharias won't let it go, either. She continues to beat every last bit of enjoyment out of Mansbach's book with her ridiculous need to equate everything, no matter how unrelated, to whatever issue she's decided really needs to be dealt with:

For far too many kids, the obscenities found in Mansbach's book are a common, everyday household language. Swearing is how parents across the social, educational and economic strata express their disappointments or anxieties, their frustrations and outright anger at their children. Sometimes the biggest bully in the neighborhood lives in the same house you do. Sometimes it's your parent.

Perhaps the reason Mansbach's book resonates isn't so much because of the humor, but because of the truth behind it.

The violent language of "Go the F*** to Sleep" is not the least bit funny, when one considers how many neglected children fall asleep each night praying for a parent who'd care enough to hold them, nurture them and read to them.

She's right. It's not the least bit funny. Not when you've got an axe to grind and the space to do it. No one is "for" child abuse or neglect. No one really thinks that swearing at children is "good parenting." And certainly no one thinks that telling blacks, Latinos, etc. to "go the f**k to sleep" is acceptable. But here we are, being told something we all know, by people who have proven that anything can be twisted into an "issue" and that are obviously incapable of enjoying a good joke.

Filed Under: adam mansbach, go the fuck to sleep

'Go The F**k To Sleep' Accused Of Copying Imagery

from the go-the-f**k-to-court dept

Well, well. We've written about how the massive success of the book Go the F**k to Sleep could likely be attributed to mass file sharing of the book itself, long before it was actually published (which, according to some, makes it a felony). While the publisher and the author originally tried to fight the sharing, they eventually calmed down when they realized that it was (massively) helping with sales. However, we noted the oddity of the author still then insisting that "piracy" was bad.

So it struck as quite interesting, in a comment on that post by Mark, that an artist is now suggesting that the illustrator of Go the F**k to Sleep appears to have copied at least one of his illustrations for one of the book's classic images: At the very least, I think a strong argument could be made that the illustrator used the original image as a template for his drawing. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with that (at all). In fact, it's pretty smart. The image perfectly conveys what they wanted, so build on it, as they did. Of course, I was wondering what the original artist is planning to do about it -- and hoping that he wouldn't take the silly and wasteful path of deciding to "go the f**k to court," but it looks like he's considering it. Many people in the comments argue that it's copyright infringement (there's also a lot of misinformation in the comments), and eventually the original artist notes that he's looking into what to do, and it sounds like he's going to ask for money:

From my perusal of Mr. Cortes' other works, it does appear that he makes extensive use of photographic references in his work. Whether he paints over them or just uses them as visual references I cannot say.

I don't doubt that a lot of artists download references from the Internet and then adapt them to suit their needs. 9 times out of 10 no one is going to be the wiser, especially if they think they are looking at a stock nature photo someone took. Why drag your easel to Norway when you can hit up GIS?

What happens when the reference isn't a photo however, but is an original artwork? The difference isn't always clear and I do usually strive for photorealism in my nature work.

Either way, I will definitely be looking into this matter in the weeks ahead. It's not personal of course (he seems like a cool guy), merely business.

That's really too bad. Why do people get so freaked out when others are inspired by their own artwork? Of course, I'd also imagine that if people looked, they might be able to find similar photographic "templates" for other images in the book. But do those harm the original artwork? Of course not.

Filed Under: adam mansbach, copying, go the fuck to sleep, piracy

Author Of 'Go The F**k To Sleep' Says Piracy Helped Him... But He Doesn't Support It

from the it-supports-you... dept

Last month, we wrote about how the children's book for adults, Go the F**k to Sleep, became a bestseller and got a movie deal and tons of attention in large part due to the fact that it was being "pirated" like crazy. The PDF and scanned images of the book were everywhere. I was sent the PDF by at least a dozen people -- most of whom are not people involved in file sharing or infringement in any way. It was just one of those cultural phenomenons that everyone was passing around. At the time, we noted how ridiculous it was that the publisher was still claiming it had to take down those copies. After all, it seemed pretty clear that those "copies" helped make the book such a huge success.

In an interview with Rafe Needleman at CNET, the book's author, Adam Mansbach, still appears somewhat conflicted about the whole thing. He jokes about how their attempt to stop the copies shows how "web savvy" they were, and then admits that after a week or so, they stopped when they realized it was clearly helping sales. The lightbulb moment was when they asked someone to take down the work, and the guy told them "Ok, If you want, but 300 people asked me where I could get the book." But... he still can't seem to bring himself to admit that this can work for others:

"It helped us," he says, "but it would have hurt most people. We had a perfect storm. The idea of pirating I don't want to be too romantic about or supportive of."

Why? Why would it have hurt most people? It would hurt people if the book was bad and uninteresting, sure. But is that a problem? It might hurt people who don't have a good way to then sell the book. But if you set things up correctly, where's the harm?

Filed Under: adam mansbach, go the fuck to sleep, piracy