Shut Up You're Fine: Instructive Poetry for Very, Very Bad Children

by Andrew Hudgins, Barry Moser

Andrew Hudgins, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-nominated author of the critically acclaimed Ecstatic in the Poison, brings us this new collection of laugh-out-loud tongue-in-cheek nursery rhymes that do for poetry what Edward Gorey did for cartooning. Illustrated by the distinguished artist and graphic designer Barry Moser, Shut Up, You're Fine! includes such heart-warming titles as "Playing Houth," "The Thumping of the Bed," "Two Starving Kids in Africa," and "Daddy, Are We Meat?

Genres: Poetry, Humor, Adult

144 pages, Hardcover

Published March 5, 2009

About the author

ANDREW HUDGINS is the author of seven books of poems, including Saints and Strangers, The Glass Hammer, and most recently Ecstatic in the Poison. A finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, he is a recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships as well as the Harper Lee Award. He currently teaches in the Department of English at Ohio State University.

Reviews

[Cristi-Lael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up at my library FOTL sale because the front cover blurb compared it to Edward Gorey. However, I was really disappointed in the poetry and DNF'd the book about halfway. It just wasn't very good or clever.

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twisted Delight.

[L12_tomj · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover and the title are clear indications that THIS set of poetic topics is not for all audiences. Shut Up, You're Fine!: Poems for Very, Very Bad Children" by Andrew Hudgins is definitely for an audience of older high school students. This book of poems was found under the library topic of "poems for boys", and after reading the content explored in Andrew Hudgins book this is likely accurate. Titles like "Our Neighbors Little Yappy Dog", "The Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull", and "We Buried the Cat but the Dog Dug Her Up" would definitely appeal to adolescent boys. Still, less timid high school girls would clearly enjoy this book as well.

Hudgins' ability to transform the gross and mean things in life through economy of word and voice into moments of humor and poetic beauty is what lifts these poems above there low origins. Sarcasm and insightful laughter mix freely in this set of nursery rhyme poems, and the less squeamish, and honest students, would appreciate his style and topics. Who hasn't at least had this thought cross their head about squirrels in their neighborhood running across power lines.

The Circus In The Trees

I love to watch the gray squirrels leap
from limb to leafy limb,
tumbling like furry acrobats-
and every tree their gym.

The oak limbs are their trampoline,
and their trapeze the pines.
They stroll, like tightrope walkers, up
The looping power lines-

and sometimes they gnaw through a line,
exploding as it arcs,
and lighting up the evening sky,
cascading down as sparks.

Illustrator Barry Moser's penciled sketches mirror the singularity of purpose and concise words and content of each poem. "Shut Up, You're Fine" certainly doesn't present topics that most Language Arts teachers would deem "appropriate" for students, but what Hudgins does express so eloquently is one essential truth about poetry and art in general- no topic is taboo. Andrew Hudgins recognizes that it is not the topic's high or low origins which make it worthy of poetic exploration, but the ability of the poet to use word, imagery, and sound to present to the reader something entirely new to behold. For that reason alone, teachers should carefully pick out poems that highlight these realities of human thought, and explore Hudgins' technique. Ideas for the classroom would include taking topics or images, like roadkill or zits, that others might deem unsuitable for poetic discussion, and see if students can transform them into something comical and poetic. Andrew Hudgins is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book award finalist, and to see how he takes the generic, mundane, and often violent nature of American culture and offers it some means of transcendence is a worthy academic adventure. Teachers would do well to look at his poetic offerings. Other books by Andrew Hudgins to be previewed by teachers for classroom use for his unique and modern take on American life include "American Rendering: new and selected poems", "Ecstatic in the Poison", and "Babylon in a Jar".

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure who this book is written for, but its really rather tasteless. Perhaps a teenage boy would enjoy it. There are poems about death, masturbation, drunken and disfunctional families, one titled "the thumping of the bed" about overhearing sex, it goes on and on. I read them all....but I dont think I enjoyed any of them. (I may have chuckled at one or two but really, they were quite tasteless.)

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the concept is fun, the execution is lacking. The poems try too hard to be shocking and fall short on wit and charm. Shel Silverstein it ain't.

The illustrations are delightful, however, and I did enjoy a couple of the poems, most notably "Why I Love Ruby."

[Sharan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit twisted. A little bit in there for everyone.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read this again...
Highly recommended.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a grimly humorous collection of poems that draws from the less pleasant aspects of life, on which some of us tend to dwell.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

"MY MOTHER PREDICTS TRAVEL TO EXOTIC DESTINATIONS

Shut up and study harder.
You'd have to be a fool
to get these grades. Another F
and it's military school.

Or better yet, enlist -
and let the army feed you.
Then you can gripe about their food
and what they guaranteed you.

All you do is snarl -
and stomp downstairs for chow
You're eating us into the poorhouse.
You're like a garbage scow.

Yes, all you do is eat -
and chase your cheap blonde slut.
Do you think the minx will visit you
when the prison door slams shut?

If you tried, you might enjoy
a girl who studies books,
holds down a steady job - or two -
and maybe even cooks -

even if she lacks dyed hair
and fake breasts like that tart
who'll have you stealing from the till
and robbing Quickee- Mart

to keep her pimp in cocaine
and her babies in day-care.
You know she'll be with someone else
when they strap you in the chair.

Only Mom will be there
when you lose your last appeal -
to tell you not to gulp your food
when you eat your final meal."

[Seth the Zest · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was amusing but many of the poems rift on tired or offensive tropes. There's also a fair bit of violence throughout, which is played for laughs but I wasn't finding the humor.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero stars. Complete crap. Ramblings of a drunk 8 year old, abused and confused? Total garbage.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero stars. These “poems” have no redeeming features.

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked that they were real... but some made me physically sick so read at your own discretion!

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of clever, kind of disturbing.

[hamatesus · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was his problem with grandmothers?

[Laura Sanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I was a kid I would love this.

[Kevin Orth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully sarcastic rhyme and cadence. The poet takes some very big and tender matters into his hands and gives them back to us in prose to make us smile and laugh at our childhood hurts and difficulties. Highly recommend.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the most part this is a lackluster collection of poems. I have not read much of Mr. Hudgins' poetry, but I assume this is not his greatest effort.
There are a few pieces that are quite witty, speak to a human truth, or have some redeeming theme. However, there are others that are completely inept in terms of their meter and prose, and others that are just downright lame attempts at shock value.
Poems such as "The Tooth Fairy" and "Starving Kids in Africa" seem to capture the mind of childhood, while others lack coherency and value. This is a small collection, and a quick read, but I doubt whether you will find anything "lasting" or significant about it. It is certainly not worth buying. Libraries are for poems such as these. You won't find the need to return to them again and again.
The drawings (there are not that many) by Barry Moser are quite fine.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tooth fairy. Moms cleaning faces with spit. Imaginary friends. Ice cream trucks. Lesbian stepmothers. These are the things of children's books (well, except maybe that last one), and some of these poems are from kids' points of view, but despite the subtitle, this is not really children's poetry. Most of the poems are funny in a dark way, and some are downright morbid. Here are the final lines of one of my favorite poems, "Kiss Grandma Goodnight":

Pucker up and kiss them
Act just like a chum
Lie that you love them
They're what you'll become

[TC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in Faulkner House Books in Pirates Alley New Oreleans during our 10th Anniversary Road trip and couldn't resist it. I don't have much poetry in my collection, but these poems are witty, sometimes gross and very funny. Though this is not a children's book, I would highly recommend it to anyone who spends a lot of time with kids and has a sense of humor: such as parents, teachers or health professionals that work with kids.

[Sheila Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this one. My rating would vary depending on which poem I was reading at the time. Most were twisted and funny, but some surpassed my humor and just made me uncomfortable as I was reading...but then again, that might be what the author intended. I'd rather stick to Shel Silverstein for the poetry and Edward Gorey for the macabre.

[Danie P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though this title may appeal to younger readers who have read the likes of Shel Silverstein be warned this book is definately for adults and older teen readers.

Poems about shriveling dead relatives and devilish children include crude language that is entertaining and at the same time reminds you of shel silverstein.

[Ann Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way beyond Edward Gorey and without the charm. Bizarre and disturbing (which is just what the poet was going for I have no doubt). Nursery Rhymes about abusive parents, molestations and other traumas.

[Overlook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very entertaining little book, full of surprisingly agile poems that made me laugh out loud. It would make a wonderful gift for anyone, particularly those with children.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought it for the pictures, but there weren't many, so I had to read the poetry, which suffered from a bad case of enjambment.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems contains a couple of gems.

[Neil Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great