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hawktheslayer
For the love of god can anyone explain the "good night nobody" line to me? I read this book to my kids and that part has been eating me.
flother
I'm not sure anyone can explain it. Author Aimee Bender:

"What a surprise, then, to find that there is a blank page with 'Goodnight nobody' out of nowhere, sharing a spread with 'Goodnight mush.' [...] 'Goodnight nobody' is an author's inspired moment that is inexplicable and moving and creates an unknown that lingers. [...] I feel sure I will never crack open the meaning of 'Goodnight nobody,' and moments like that make rereading a genuine joy."

https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/what-writer...

But for what it's worth, I think it's there for a simple reason: to reassure children that there is nobody else in the room, nobody else to fear.

bunderbunder
She goes on to show that she (in my estimation) definitely gets it, even if is difficult to articulate what it's about:

"How wonderful that this oddly compassionate moment, where even nobody gets a good night, shows up in the picture book that is the most popular! There is no template, ever. When writing, how do we allow those moments of impulse, of surprise? How do we not censor that kind of leap?"

She won't crack open the meaning, and that's fine. "Goodnight nobody" is a passage that's more koan than clarity, and that's exactly what makes it such a genius little nugget to see in a book written for toddlers.

IntronExon
It’s the man who wasn’t there?

Yesterday, upon the stair,

I met a man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three

The man was waiting there for me

But when I looked around the hall

I couldn’t see him there at all!

Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!

Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away...

mcphage
That reads like Shel Silverstein mixed with Nightmare Fuel
IntronExon
That’s a great way of putting it! Of course old Shel had some creeeepy stuff too, remember the Yipiyuk?

In the swamplands long ago,

Where the weeds and mudglumps grow,

A Yipiyuk bit on my toe…

Exactly why I do not know.

I kicked and cried

And hollered “Oh”—

The Yipiyuk would not let go.

I whispered to him soft and low—

The Yipiyuk would not let go. I shouted “Stop,” “Desist” and “Whoa”—

The Yipiyuk would not let go.

Yes, it was sixteen years ago,

The Yipiyuk still won’t let go.

The snow may fall,

The winds may blow—

The Yipiyuk will not let go.

The snow may melt,

The grass may grow—

The Yipiyuk will not let go.

I drag him ‘round each place I go.

This Yipiyuk that won’t let go.

And now my child at last you know

Exactly why I walk so slow.

He had a few creepy ones, but they were all memorable and excellent. Thanks for reminding me of Shel Silverstein.

mcphage
You're welcome :-) Here's another creepy one of his I like:

Joey Joey took a stone

And knocked

Down

The

Sun!

And whoosh! it swizzled

Down so hard,

And bloomp! it bounced

In his backyard,

And glunk! it landed

On his toe!

And the world was dark,

And the corn wouldn't grow,

And the wind wouldn't blow,

And the cock wouldn't crow,

And it always was Night,

Night,

Night.

All because

Of a stone

And Joe.

earenndil
When my parents read it, they read it as "good night <name>"
eli
I like that line! It's whimsical. It makes me think of a child listing all the things they can think of and mistakenly including "nothing" in that list.

Not everything has to be perfectly logical. The part that confused my kid was that the "little old lady" was clearly a rabbit.

jpfed
I interpreted it to refer to the sort of momentary lapse in mental coherence that might occur as you fall asleep. You're listing all this stuff you're saying "goodnight" to and then your mind blanks for a second- no one else is in the room with you in that moment. After a moment you remember the mush and the old lady saying "hush".
sigjuice
Lately, my daughter (18 months) has been obsessed with "goodnight nobody". She will skip straight to that page and repeat "nobody" over and over again!
RodgerTheGreat
For me, the primary takeaway from this article is the absurdity of copyright lifetimes that keep a book published in 1947 out of the public domain, printing money for people who had no part in creating it.
ggg9990
I feel like the time is ripe to change that. It used to be that copyrights were held by big corporations and small enterprises were the ones who wanted to infringe. Now copyrights are held by millions of users and big corporations like Google and Facebook want to make money off that content. They could lobby for a major change to copyright law.
PhantomGremlin
A somewhat different bedtime story is, of course, Go the Fuck to Sleep. Most entertaining is when it is read by Samuel L Jackson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udj-o2m39NA

This book came too late for me and my kids ... maybe someday I'll get a chance to read it to my grandchildren?

downrightmike
You could just have a secret attic or Canadian family. /s
fencepost
Seems to me that the (second?) best thing that ever happened to him is that Samuel Nadler took him on as a client and watched out for his interests.
ggm
A fictional version is 'about a boy' by Nick Hornby. Kinda.
pacomerh
we read this book to my son almost every night, and when we get to "good night nobody" he gets anxious and tries to turn then page quickly. Anyways, after reading this article I'll never look at this book the same again, not sure if good or bad.
gnim
Tangentially related, my grandmother purchased Clarke’s Cape Cod cottage that is mentioned in the article. Clark approached a real estate agent saying the property needed to sell by the end of the week. My grandmother, who was not wealthy, offered what she had and Clark immidiately accepted. He was described as an “interesting fellow”.