Bryan Cranston will be following in Levar Burton and Samuel L. Jackson’s foul-mouthed footsteps, having agreed to narrate the audiobook version of Adam Mansbach’s new not-really-for-children’s book, You Have To Fucking Eat. The follow-up to Mansbach’s bestselling Go The Fuck To Sleep, the new book follows a similar pattern of profanity-laden parental catharsis in response to children who refuse to pitch in to perform the bare minimum actions necessary for their own survival.
While Cranston might not have Jackson’s extensive experience with the word, or the delightful novelty of hearing the famously pleasant Burton tell a kid to “Shut the fuck up and sleep,” nobody can deny the actor’s accumen at saying “Fuck you!” to someone (and their eyebrows). The Breaking Bad star does have some stiff competition in the expertly-delivered expletive department, though: The British version of the audiobook, which you can listen to on publisher Canongate’s website, features verbal vitriol vocalizations from actor and author Stephen Fry, a man who knows his way around the word “fuck.”
Update: Audiobook publisher Audible is currently offering a free download of Cranston’s version of the book, available here, until the end of the month. The publisher also provided a YouTube excerpt of the book, including some of artist Owen Brozman’s illustrations, below. (Those of you who suscribe to the “swearing is funnier when it’s bleeped” theory can find a clean version here.)
