
For Albert Clarke, the Rise of 'Goodnight Moon' Is No Storybook Romance (2000) - gwern
http://www.joshuaprager.com/articles/runaway-money/
======
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.

------
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...](https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/what-writers-can-
learn-from-good-night-moon/)

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.

------
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.

------
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”.

------
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](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

------
acheron
Original source:
[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB968365456431553434](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB968365456431553434)

~~~
neonate
[http://archive.is/5bJ8V](http://archive.is/5bJ8V)

------
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.

------
dragonwriter
(2000)

------
schoen
(2000)

~~~
dang
Added. Thanks!

