Samuel L. Jackson Narrates Bestseller “Go the F--- to Sleep”

“Go the F--- to Sleep” is the children’s book parody featuring profane language and written by Adam Mansbach. Due to massive viral exposure in early May, the book shot straight to the top of the Amazon.com bestseller list before ever reaching print. The most unexpected publishing hit of 2011, “Go the F--- to Sleep” is also available in an audio and video version recorded by none other than Hollywood’s bad boy, Samuel L. Jackson.

The perfect narrator for the funny, foul language storybook, Samuel L. Jackson reads with perfect pitch and timing, according to recent reports. The audio book version is already an Internet sensation and Jackson even read a passage from the bestselling bawdy kid’s book on at CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman on Thursday, June 16.

Jackson touches on his reason for climbing on board to do the narration, saying, “I was anxious to do the audio read of this book because my agent has twins and he gave me the book, I read it, and I fell out laughing.”

Jackson also shares at the beginning of the recording his own experience with his daughter at bedtime. “Everyone tells you that reading stories will put kids to sleep, but it never works,” says Jackson. “It didn’t in my house…I did say go the ‘F’ to sleep to her a lot. And then she would look at me and say, ‘Go the ‘F’ to sleep, daddy?’ And I would say, ‘Yeah, Go the ‘F’ to sleep.’”

The famed children’s book started out as a joke in a Facebook post by author Adam Mansbach when he could not get his daughter to fall asleep. After his friends expressed their love for the “Go the F--- to Sleep” title, Mansbach decided to turn it into a real nursery rhyme-style book complete with illustrations by friend Ricardo Cortes.

Publisher Akashic Books rushed the publication date, originally scheduled for October, and increased print to more than 275,000 hardcover copies to meet public interest.

“Go the F--- to Sleep” debuted at No.1 on the New York Times bestseller list for advice books on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

According to owner and publisher of Akashic Books, Johnny Temple, a G-rated version of the book is also in the works, as well as 15 international editions plus other spinoffs.