Beckett for Babies

Stimulate your infant’s intellectual development with Beckett for Babies, an introduction to some of the most important – and most difficult – literature of the twentieth century. If it is never too early to read to your baby, it is never too early to prepare her for graduate school.

Back before Luke was born, I was shopping around this board book featuring photographs of perplexed babies juxtaposed with quotes from the works of Samuel Beckett. There were no takers. (That's my little brother Den up there. Hi Den! Den has a lot more hair now.)

Beckett's work is bleak yet comic, much like parenting; on the whole it attempts to sort out such knotty problems as "the absurdity of existence" and "the mystery of the self." These are, of course, precisely the problems that infants and toddlers (not to mention their parents) struggle with on a daily basis. Beckett was deeply influenced by a strained relationship with his own mother who, early on in his literary career, enthusiastically encouraged him to get a "real" job.

I don't have a "real" job, either.

In an even more startling coincidence, I was born in 1969, the year Samuel Beckett won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

So was my old high school friend, Todd Durling. He put together these mock-ups for me.  That's him as a baby right up there, looking a little disappointed.

While Beckett didn’t even bother to show up to collect his prize – he sent his secretary instead – Todd and I made a point of attending our own births, because we knew how important it would be to our parents to have us there at such a major event in their lives.

Comments

[Stephen Tiano]

This is quite brilliant. whether you’re playing or not. I might have experimented with type and/or effects that simulated brightly-colored crayon on the black background.

I’ll be back to see if you keep blogging. If so, I’ll likely add you to my blogroll.

Stephen Tiano
Book Deigner, Page Compositor and Layout Artist

[Stephany Aulenback]

Thanks, Stephen!

[Julia]

Brilliant! I would totally buy this.

[Lifeform]

“I’ll be back to see if you keep blogging. If so, I’ll likely add you to my blogroll.”

Ditto, to this: http://www.Samuel-Beckett.net

[Ayun]

oh my lord. If I could have this book, I would have another baby, I swear! Genius!

[Mark]

This is great! I would buy that book so fast, my wallet wouldn't know what hit it.

[Lifeform]

“oh my lord. If I could have this book, I would have another baby, I swear!”

"NO," he replied, when I asked him [Beckett] if he had ever wanted children, "THAT'S ONE THING I'M PROUD OF."

What was it he [Beckett] said about the prospect of raising a child? "NEITHER I NOR MY WIFE CAN BEAR THE THOUGHT OF COMMITTING A CHILD TO DEATH."

[Heather (errantdreams)]

What an awesome concept. I know quite a few parents would would love it. :)

[Ann]

I'd buy it in a second! And seriously, I bet you could sell a couple as greeting cards and test the market to see if there'd be enough acceptance for a book.

[Wayne]

I, too, would buy it. And then I wouldn't share it with my kids.

Thanks, you guys. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Lifeform, where'd you find that quote from Beckett? It's perfect.

And Ann, your greeting card idea is a good one...

[Patricia]

This really is a brilliant, clever, witty and a damn-I-wish-I'd-thought-of-it idea.

Have you been sending it out to any publishers? I'm sure a publisher like Chronicle Books would be very interested in this concept.

[babelbabe]

Others have said it, but I'll say it again: this is BRILLIANT. I not oonly would buy my own copies, but would buy them to give as baby gifts. When else to most appreciate Beckett than in those first 12-15 or so sleep-deprived weeks?

You coud also market accessories - like the ancient parents in Endgame who live in garbage cans - it's better than Sesame treet : )

[Jennifer Low]

Please create the book! I'm dead certain that it would find buyers.

[Ken]

Wonderful! I look forward to the update with an appropriate illustration for, 'Our mothers give birth astride of the grave', my favourite line from Samuel 'Uncle Chuckle-Trousers' Beckett

[Heather (errantdreams)]

Chronicle, yeah, or 10 Speed Press. Both tend to publish quirky things like this.

[Tess]

Or a screen saver- I'd paypal you $20 in a heartbeat to have it pop up when I'm slacking off at work...

[Robin]

Have you considered self-publishing through somewhere like lulu ( http://www.lulu.com/en/products/ )? The nice thing there is that there is no upfront cost to you, only a per-book cost when people buy. Alas, I don't think they have a 'board book' format.

[cK]

That beats the hell out of Anne Geddes! Awesome.
-cK

[Rachel M. Kadel-Garcia]

I'm a bookbinder in training; I'd love to use this as a chance to try making board books. May I? (I'd be happy to make one for you if you send me your snail mail address.)

reach me at rachel at post dot harvard dot edu

[Piglet]

Dear lord in heaven, those are wonderful. *Please* consider cafe-pressing the Beckett quotes onto onesies. I would buy the last 3.

[msmary]

You need to shop this to more publishers! How many students do you suppose there are in graduate programs in English (and all its sub-specialties?) How many of them have kids? How many have parents? Snarky friends? If "Urban Babies Wear Black" can make it, this certainly will. Try Tricycle Press. I hope you really included Endgame in the complete manuscript. Libraries would buy multiple copies!

[Kate]

Fantastic. I would totally buy this!

[another Kate]

I would buy this, and I have no babies and have never read Beckett. Maybe you could make prints available on Etsy? I think a large portion of the people who shop there would like these.

[DIYSkeptic]

Hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Just like Beckett. What about "we give birth astride of a grave" from Godot?

[melissah]

'Todd and I made a point of attending our own births, because we knew how important it would be to our parents to have us there at such a major event in their lives.'

Hahaha. That's almost as funny as the concept behind this book.

[Stephany Aulenback]

Wow, thanks for all the positive feedback and the marketing ideas.

I'd thought of the "giving birth astride of the grave" quote but man, that's quite the image, isn't it? I'm not sure I could come up with an appropriate photo for it! I'll think some more about it.

Rachel, that's very kind of you -- I'll shoot you an email.

[emergingwriter]

I love the concept. Love the quotes, love the facial expressions. I would bet my bottom dollar, however, that Beckett's executors won't go for it. You may have a long wait.

[Ricky Shambles]

Fantastic!

Brilliant, blogged (http://utteroutrage.blogspot.com/2007/09/beckett-for-babies.html), blogrolled. If you don't mind, I'd love to use the cover image in my post.

[Greg]

As someone who's actually going to grad school for theatre (MFA Playwriting, U Iowa), I found this hysterical and brilliant.

P.S. Congrats--you got linked by Neil Gaiman.

[Carol Novack]

I love this concept. The Mad Hatters would love this concept. Talk to me. We have Hollywould connections.

That baby looks like the playwright and actor Wally Shawn. Does he still look like Wally Shawn? I don't mean Wally, but that baby. Wally went places, so it mightn't be a bad thing.

[mike coffey]

To "Mark" who posted, on 9/17, two beckett quotes about having children--can you tell me where you found those? Off-line response okay at mcoffey@reedbusiness.com

[Nicolle]

This is wonderful. Good luck with the publishing. Maybe you could make onesies, bibs or t-shirts and sell them on cafepress.com. The greeting card is a good idea too. Something you can do yourself.

[melanie]

I'm actually in pain from laughing.

[sophie45]

The greeting card is a good idea too. Something you can do yourself.

[Declan Hackett]

Dear God I Want This NOW! Just a pity we'll have to wait until 22 December 2039...