I Will Not Go the F**k to Sleep

by Richard Crasta, Benny Profane (Pseudonym)

A book of nonconformist humor and satire by the author of "The Revised Kama Sutra"; the first chapter imagines a child who, when told to "go the f**k to sleep" by her father, responds in adult language.

There are a variety of other humorous and satirical essays in this book, which pokes fun at stereotypes about India and America, Genesis, and politicians, both American and Indian. Some editions of this book, including a special edition, are published under the pseudonym "Benny Profane."

128 pages, Nook

First published June 2, 2011

About the author

Richard Crasta is the author of 12+ books (not 62 books or so, as shown by Goodreads--the author was simply trying out new titles for the same book, or launched a trial balloon book, then unpublished it; so most of the listed books don't exist). Crasta's novel of childhood and coming of age, "The Revised Kama Sutra," was described as "very funny" by Kurt Vonnegut and was published in 10 countries and in 7 languages. It has also been consistently been part of the recommended reading list in Lonely Planet's guides to India, at first, and then in the Lonely Planet Guide to South India.

Crasta's books include fiction, nonfiction, essays, autobiography (including books on fatherhood, publishing, and the lives of men), humor, and satire (3 of these under the pen name of Benny Profane). Throughout his literary career, he has been driven by a passion for freedom, self-expression, and resistance to colonialism and censorship, including that indirect form of censorship known as ethnic pigeonholing or literary apartheid. His books include "The Revised Kama Sutra," "Impressing the Whites," "The Killing of an Author," (the three books that comprise his Freedom Trilogy), and "What We All Need." They have been described as "going where no Indian writer has gone before," and try to present an unedited, uncensored self and view of the world.

Richard Crasta has traveled widely, and though his publishing imprint, Invisible Man Press, is located in New York, he now spends his time in Asia, working on seven books in progress.

Reviews

[Laurie Boris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Crasta years ago at a networking event, and if not for that meeting (because he’s mainly been published in India), I might have lost out on the experience of his clever wordplay and the playful but biting satire that peppers his writing. Immediately I purchased a copy of his first and most well known book, “The Revised Kama Sutra: A Novel of Colonialism and Desire.” (Buy it if you can.)

Through an accident of the Internet, our paths crossed again, though we are now living on opposite sides of the globe. And through the magic of electronic publishing, I was able to catch up on the books that I missed.

The one that caught my eye first was a book of essays titled, I Will NOT Go the F**k To Sleep, the title meant to be a satire on the recent and popular Adam Mansbach children’s book that’s more for parents, “Go the F**k to Sleep.” It is, indeed, the title of the first essay in this book, a Stewie Griffin-meets-Bart Simpson take on this command from the child’s point of view. The humor continues, some essays with a political bite, some with inspired silliness, but thoroughly enjoyable.

For instance, one essay, “What You Don’t Know about Bangaloring Could Hurt You,” is a wisecracking look at outsourced American jobs from India’s point of view. Another, “On The Trail of Sex in Kama-Land,” got him censored in his homeland. Crasta also includes an especially funny excerpt from “The Revised Kama Sutra,” in which our hero, at a tender age and with a repressed upbringing, is disturbed to discover the assertiveness of his male appendage. “A Tale of Two Weddings” puts a satiric lens on the stereotypes many people have about Indian culture.

Crasta is funny, yes, sometimes with a Pythonesque goofiness, but often with an irreverent poke in the eye to those in power. But all good satirists, from Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain to Christopher Buckley and Bill Maher, know that humor is the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down. Or, as C. K. Chesterton put it, “Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle.”

Or, as Crasta writes in his introduction, “The king’s jester had no sacred cows, and was the only one who could laugh at the king and not pay for it with his life–why? Because to prevent a society from going insane, it needs a band of men and women who have carte blanche, carte blanche to point out that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes, or even that black polka dots on his polka dot pants are not dots but holes.”