“Go the F**K to Sleep”: How a Facebook Status Became a Children’s Book

Parents (and hipsters) everywhere went cuckoo for Adam Mansbach’s “Go The F**K To Sleep,” a children’s book for adults. The book is thirty-five pages of expletive-filled children’s rhymes and disarmingly sweet illustrations of dozing animals. “Go The F**K To Sleep” debuted June 14 and settled in at #2 on Amazon’s Bestsellers List. I say settled because the “children’s” book reached #1 on the list in the middle of May, almost a month before its release date, and has been in the Top 100 for fifty days now. It is also sitting high on Barnes & Noble’s Top 100, currently at #3.

Mansbach first came up with the idea after a particularly taxing night with his then-two-year-old daughter Vivien, who refused to go the fuck to sleep. Though the inspiration came from a joke he posted on his Facebook page (“Look out for my forthcoming book, Go the Fuck to Sleep”), the numerous “likes” and comments he received from his friends convinced him that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. Following this train of thought, I would like to announce my intent to publish the subsequent books in the upcoming year:

“The True Story of Four Scattered Chicken McNuggets (and the Woman Who Loved Them)”

“The Day the Waitress Called Me Sir: An Exploration in Gender Identity”

“Math For College Students! (If I Have Fourteen Pairs of Underwear and a Swimsuit Bottom, When Do I Have to Do My Laundry?)”

“The Grand Playa Does Not Mean What It (Hilariously) Sounds Like—A Quick Lesson in Spanish”

“Who Pipe-Bombed the Neighbors?”

While you wait to pre-order these delectable titles, consider buying “Go The F**K To Sleep,” if only to give to dear ol’ dad to hide the fact that you forgot this Sunday is Father’s Day.

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