Review: Go the Fuck to Sleep

Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


You know, I was with it and thought it was funny up until the point where the little black baby was toddling past the door and the writing suggests that the furniture in the house is poor, and it's the only one in which the parent is falling asleep. I get that there's anger in other places in the book, but from the narration, it isn't clear that the parent acted on the anger, but that image made me think, "we really don't need any help pushing the stereotype that Black people have shoddy furniture and neglect their children." It could be that I'm being too sensitive about this, but when I deal with students who don't take issue with racial epithets because they don't understand the implications of their speech and behavior, it's hard for me to let things like this pass.

And really, I was with it up until that point.



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