Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book: A Primer for Adults Only - Shel Silverstein

Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book: A Primer for Adults Only - Shel Silverstein
Publisher: Fireside | Septemb
er 9, 1985 | Language: English | ISBN-10: 067121148X | 29 PAGES | File type: PDF | 1.45 mb

"I have always thought of Shel Silverstein as the American counterpart to England's Roald Dahlsomeone who writes ostensibly for children much of the time, but whose worldview is dark, perhaps a little damp, and steeped in a winking cynicism. Silverstein proves my point adeptly in the 1961 classic "Uncle Shelby's ABZ," a loopy uproar of a book that should never, NEVER be given to young children. You will, however, want to get a copy for every adult you're fond of who doesn't already own a copy.

As Silverstein explains in the foreword (done here, as throughout the book, in his own handwriting), he has thought and thought about children and as he wasn't blessed with children of his own, he has come up with this "primer" for all children. The book opens with a wee poem:

O child learn your ABZ's
And memorize them well
And you shall learn to talk and think
And read and write and spel.

That ought to give you an idea of what's to come. Silverstein meticulously addresses every letter in the alphabet, descending further and further as he does into a swirling pit of black humor. He starts off, of course, with "A," writing with great jollity about how many green apples he thinks the reader can eat (everything is addressed directly TO the reader, as though the reader is a child, making the text all the more seductive). "E" is a hoot:

E is for egg.
See the egg.
The egg is full of slimey goosey white stuff and icky yellow stuff.
Do you like to eat eggs?
E is also for Ernie.
Ernie is the genie who lives in the ceiling.
Ernie loves eggs.
Take a nice fresh egg and throw it as high as you can and yell "Catch, Ernie! Catch the egg!"
And Ernie will reach down and catch the egg.

Silverstein's humor is subversive, to say the least. One page has a coupon, which Silverstein accompanies with the following text:

Kids! Clip out this certificate and bring it to your friendly neighborhood grocer and he will give you, absolutely free . . . A REAL LIVE PONY!

I have seen adults absolutely dissolve off their chairs with helpless laughter on reading "Uncle Shelby's ABZ." It wickedly plays off every insecurity and worry and doomed hope that any child secretly entertains, and it does so with a ruthlessness that's mighty to behold. This is highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended for any adult." Catherine S. Vodrey

About the Author
Shel Silverstein is best known as a children's-book author who wrote and illustrated a number of bestselling books that have charmed millions of readers of all ages. Crossing many artistic boundaries, he was also a noted songwriter and an accomplshed playwright. Silverstein first came to prominence in the 1950s as a cartoonist for Playboy, where he assumed the role of roving ambassador for the up-and-coming magazine. This esteemed assignment due in no small part to his friendship with Hugh M. Hefner was the auspicious beginning of a most amazing career. Shel Silverstein died in 1999.

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