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Summary: Absolutely Essential Text for Developing Healthy Cynicism!!!
Review: I had the great pleasure of coming across this book at 5 years old (the original 1961 edition). I distinctly remember understanding that the humor was cynical, and this very much helped to contrast "normal life" and this dark, fascinatingly morbid parody of same. I absolutely adored the drawings, they are some of the earliest (and best) images that I can recall from that era. As humor is infinitely "subjective", this book is certainly NOT for everybody. However, if you have ever been accused of having a "sick" sense of humor, then this thin tome is a MUST!
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Summary: I send this book to hospitalized friends to cheer them up.
Review: Great book (though my wife hates it -- I guess it depends on your point of view.) I still have the original 1960's edition, and have bought a batch of others to give as gifts. Pity about the current edition - the yellow circle next to the A on the cover warns that this book is only for adults. That lawyerese addition kills some of the fun of the book.
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Summary: Very upset when I got this one
Review: I read Light in the Attic when I was very young and I enjoyed it very much. I have recently added Silverstein's other poem books, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up. I have even added The Giving Tree. All were enjoyed! Then I heard about this book and the wonderful reviews. I was very disapointed! I don't think I've lost my sense of humor, but I didn't find it funny at all! Sadly, I didn't get it through here so I can't return it. I just wanted to share because my opinion of the book was so far off from everyone elses.. this book is definately only for certain people!
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Summary: ABZbest Adult Children's Book Ever Written!
Review: I have given at least 25 copies of this book as gifts since I stumbled across it 10 years ago. It's a great addition to the coffee table or bathroom magazine rack! If you're not jaded, you will be after reading this book
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Summary: A Great Book for Those Still Young at Heart
Review: I read this book at the recommendation of my girlfriend. This is one of Shel's earliest books but I believe it is one of his best. I like to use the book when I've had a long day and need a little pick-me-up. I recommend it to anyone who believes in the magic of Shel Silverstein
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Summary: Not quite the "Don' t Bump the Glump" of old days, but....
Review: Shel delivers the raw comedy side of kidding kids without being seen as "too" mean! Many of the drawings are from the original Uncle Shelby's Don't Bump the Glump, and I am happy to be able to add it to my collection. Great for a quick curl up on a dark day, and let your adult mind laugh at things you would love to do to those darling munchkins. Or you already did as the babysitter!
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Summary: The funniest book ever.
Review: I think this book is the most funniest book I've ever read. I really liked the part where it said money is the cause of all evil and that it should be sent to Shel Silverstein. I am glad my older sister recomended it for me. I would strongly
recomend it to anyone looking for a hilarious book.
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Summary: Shel Silverstein at his best and directed towards adults.
Review: Seemingly taken from his days of publishing with Playboy Magazine, Shel takes on the persona of "Uncle Shelby"
and give free advise to the children he adores; those same ones who keep him up late at night playing outside his
window, the same kids who write little messages on his car, the introduction sets the histarical tone for a "Primer for young minds"
that was written as a childrens book, but is humorusly filled with mis-information. Two thumbs up!
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Summary: Primer for Adults?
Review: For starters, I think this book is funny and clever, and I was planning to pick up a copy for a buddy who just had a baby...However, I'm bummed about the "Primer for Adults" part. The book is even funnier as a mock kid's book and the "Primer..." line spoils the fun and gives away the joke before you even open the book.
With the original title, the book is clearly 5 stars.
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Summary: Wickedly funny
Review: You surely don't need me to introduce you to the late Sheldon Allan Silverstein. Even if you're not aware that he wrote the lyrics to e.g. 'A Boy Named Sue' and 'Cover of the Rolling Stone', you've undoubtedly at least heard of _The Giving Tree_ and _Where the Sidewalk Ends_ and _A Light in the Attic_ and _Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back_ and _The Missing Piece_ and . . .
You probably don't need me to introduce you to this wickedly hilarious and subversive book, either. It's one of the most side-splitting things Silverstein ever wrote, and if you know who he was, you've probably heard of it. It's brilliant, and it's guaranteed -- maybe even deliberately designed -- to annoy the sort of person who says 'I have a sense of humor, but'. (Which always, _always_ translates to 'I don't have a sense of humor'. You can take that to the bank.)
But if you don't yet have your own copy, you might be put off by the fact that the new edition's title says it's for 'adults only'. That's misleading; in fact it's almost exactly the reverse of the truth. There's no 'adult material' in the entire book -- just some stuff that might be a little risky for kids too young or unsophisticated to understand the jokes.
But the jokes are most definitely for kids -- even really tall, forty-plus ones like me. Do you know any 'adults' who would be amused at the sly hint that you should give Daddy a haircut while he naps because, having spent all his money on toys and oatmeal for _you_, 'poor poor poor poor Daddy' can't afford to go to a barber? Or who would laugh uncontrollably at the suggestion that if you tell the kidnapper your daddy has a lot of money, maybe he'll let you ride in his really keen fast car?
'Adults only', my tochis. Kids understand this humor _way_ better than 'adults' do; any grownup who laughs at it is really a great big kid. I'm giving a copy to one of my daughters for her birthday, with strict instructions not to show it to my wife. [Later note: Her reaction when I gave it to her was to laugh herself silly on every page and say repeatedly, 'That is _so_ wrong.']
Kids are nowhere near as touchy about this dark-humored stuff as 'adults' are. When I was a toddler, my parents used to sing me a cute little song about chopping me up for kindling wood; I don't think I suffered any emotional scars. And most 'nursery rhymes' -- not to mention fairy tales -- are bloodthirsty horror stories. When most kids find out what 'Ring Around the Rosey' is _really_ about, they think it's _cool_.
Your own kids' chances of keeping their sense of humor into 'adulthood' increase immeasurably if they have a copy of this book to help them. Give it to them at once. No loving parent subjects a child to an unnecessary risk of maturity.
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