America (The Book) (Full title: The
Daily Show with
Jon Stewart Presents
America {The Book}: A
Citizen's Guide to
Democracy Inaction) is a
parody of an
American government textbook. The book is written by the staff responsible for
Comedy Central's
the Daily Show, and demonstrates the show's handiness for effortless
wit and
humor bordering on
sacrilege.
Anyone who has taken an American government class in
high school will recognize the basic information, although the book presents them infused and transformed by adult
cynicism and an anti-
idealist viewpoint. The book dissects the workings and process of American government, presenting the three different branches of the system in all their
decadent glory.
As aforementioned, the
style of the Daily Show comes through strongly in the book, although the
translation to written form, complete with the freedom from length and complexity
limitations, has honed the already sharp writing to a
razor's edge. The writing staff's efforts are bolstered by the column]-length appearances of the Daily Show's
special correspondents, including
Stephen Colbert,
Samantha Bee (presenting the
Canadian perspective),
Ed Helms, and
Robert Corddry. Also, short polls provide both reader
introspection and humor (Do you think the polls are included to fill holes in the publishing format?). Finally, the book is presented beautifully as a textbook, including chapter exercises and
teacher guides for
study material, all of which are hilarious.
This book should not solely be judged on its
comedic merit: though that is present and wonderfully carried out, the core of the book is its view of a ideal
republic shaped by the pressures of the real world. Already an effective
primer on the government as designed by the
founding fathers, the book goes further and, with all possible seriousness, presents such modern concepts as the
media, the
party system,
public interests,
international relations, and
congressional lobbyists as only a talented and intelligent team of cynics can.
America (the book) is available from
Warner Books as a 240-page
hardcover.
Alert reader rootbeer277 informs me that
Wal-Mart is refusing to carry the book in its stores. The
Boston Herald reports that Wal-mart has canceled its order for copies of the book after learning that the faces of the
Supreme Court Justices have been superimposed, within the book, over nine naked, elderly bodies, along with faux-cut-out robes and instructions to 'match the robes to the justice'. Wal-Mart is still carrying the book in its online store.
Alert reader sid directs me to two seperate reports wherein the book was banned and subsequently re-released onto the shelves of public libraries in Southern Mississippi. Again, the issue of controversy appears to be the fake pictures of naked supreme court justices.