Sense of Humor Required - A Review of Shut Up, You're Fine: Poems for Very, Very Bad Children

On a dark and stormy night, I approach my wife and I say, "Wife?"

She replies, "Yes, husband?"*

"Wife, I have left a book of poems in the vicinity of the porcelain and I would like you to peruse a few at random. Do, please, relate to me your reaction as both a social worker and a Much Better Person than I."




"Yea verily, husband. This I shall do, for you are not a Very Good Person."

Later that same night, all dark and stormy...

"Husband! Those verses are awful! Simply awful! One does not make jest of certain things!"

"But wife, were there not a few that, yea, gave a chuckle?"

"Mayhaps, husband. But verily, I feel wroth with myself for having hath done."

"Yea...verily."

(* Note, this conversation may not be one hundred percent accurate, but you get the gist.)


The book of poems inflicted upon my very patient wife is a new edition from The Overlook Press entitled Shut Up, You're Fine: Poems for Very, Very Bad Children by Andrew Hudgins with illustrations by Barry Moser.

I ask you, how does one not pick up a book with that title?

The title reminds me of my youth and a phrase my father would often say to me--that being, "Walk it off, you pansy." I think the title touches upon something near universal and is instantly relatable by most readers.

I expect I'll be saying this to my children one day when my wife is out of earshot.




Shut Up, You're Fine: Poems for Very, Very Bad Children
Poems by Andrew Hudgins
Drawings by Barry Moser
The Overlook Press
2009


Shut Up, You're Fine is a collection of 63 poems, relatively light verse, that revel in the black humor of youth. All are subversive in one manner or another. Many are unashamedly offensive. Very bad children do very bad things to parents, grandparents, the dog, the cat, and themselves. Likewise, very bad things happen to very bad children. (There is a theme here, you see.) It's a twisted celebration of uncomfortable topics for poetry. No topic is taboo. Masturbation. Theft. Euthanasia. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Bullying. Bed-wetting. Childhood obesity. Pornography. The list goes on.

The poems themselves are a mix of doggerel, rhymed couplets, songs, and nursery-rhyme pastiche. This makes them fairly quick and relatively enjoyable reads--and there exists a certain amount of unexpected innocence in the style. Combined with the design and artwork of American Book Award winner Barry Moser, the result is a charming looking volume.

Andrew Hudgins, the poet, is the author of such past collections as Saints & Strangers (Houghton Mifflin, 1985) which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and The Never-Ending (Mariner Books, 1992) which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is the recipient of numerous prizes and fellowships including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004 and is currently a Humanities Distinguished Professor at Ohio State University. Many of the poems appearing in Shut Up You're Fine previously appeared in such celebrated publications as Poetry, The Paris Review, and Antioch Review.

With all that said, I will admit that I was disappointed by some of the entries. Some poems, such as "The Night Wind" and "Fat Johnny" don't scan well. Rhymes and rhythms seem too forced and one wonders that if Hudgins had spent a bit more time tightening lines or working on word choice, the poems might have worked much better.

There are, of course, many poems that work well: "The Ice Cream Truck", "Dead Things I Have Seen", and "As Seen On Television" to name a few. I'd say most of the poems work stylistically. One in particular, "When Granddad Says, "Please Kill Me!"", works very well as a song and I'm wondering how hard it would be to compose some accompanying chords.

But when would I ever get to play it without having things thrown at me? That's the rub.

Mixed among the poems are drawings by renown illustrator Barry Moser who has also illustrated such books as Alice In Wonderland (Univ of California Press, 1982) and Through the Looking Glass (Univ of California Press, 1983). His drawings contribute to the overall bleak elegance of the collection--depicting such things as ugly children, distressed tooth fairies, and a very nervous guinea pig.

So we're talking a classy looking book from the folks at Overlook Press.

So am I recommending Shut Up, You're Fine?

Damn good question.

As I said, it's a handsome looking volume that would look well on nearly any shelf...but content-wise?

That's a harder call.


I don't think everyone will enjoy this tome equally. Therefore, I've set up a little guide based on the number of poems within the book you might enjoy and how much I would recommend the book overall.

0 - You have no sense of humor whatsoever. Sorry. Don't feel too bad, though. Neither did Richard Nixon. But if you are totally devoid of a sense of humor, you likely did not even bother to open a book of poems entitled Shut Up, You're Fine, so no loss, no gain.

1-15 - You have a sense of humor, but don't care much for humor in which people are hurt--especially children--fictional or otherwise. You're probably a very good person, but would feel bad about chuckling at some of the poems in this book. You wouldn't own it, but if your spouse left it in the bathroom...you might page through it before selecting something else.

16-32 - I would say the majority of readers who would pick up a book of poems entitled Shut Up, You're Fine fall into this category. You're no stranger to dark humor and have been known to tell a tasteless joke or two among close friends. But there are many poems in this book that just don't work for you because they're too black, tasteless, or uncomfortably familiar. You could own this book, but you wouldn't bring it out in mixed company.

33-51 - This is where I fall, so obviously this means that you have a refined sense of taste and you understand and enjoy black humor. You don't take things too seriously, but you know there are lines that one should think twice about crossing. Sometimes you cross them anyway. Sometimes you laugh because you're afraid to cry. Sometimes you laugh because you are very, very amused. You would own this book and display it openly.

52-60 - You laugh at inappropriate times. You may have some issues, but are not beyond help. You're fun at parties for all of ten minutes, then you find people edging away from you. You own two copies of this book--one for each kidney.

61-62 - Please stay away from my home. I will call the police. I'm picking up the phone now...

63 - Just as bad--if not more--than if you enjoyed none of these poems. It shows an absolute lack of any discrimination when it comes to poetry or subject matter. You still don't get it. I don't think even Hudgins expects them all to be hits.

If this guide didn't help, and you're looking for a more brief summation regarding any recommendations--try this on for size:

I confidently recommend this witty collection of poetry, Shut Up, You're Fine, but don't come crying to me if it offends your delicate sensibilities...you pansy.

Happy National Poetry Month!

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