Books filled with political satire are typically not found on my reading list, but I’d heard so many great things about America the Book by Jon Stewart that I decided to forget my usual reservations with the genre and check this one out. After all, Stewart would be discussing current events, so his jabs at the government should be easier to understand than, say, the ones Swift took at his government in Gulliver’s Travels, right?
So I grabbed the audiobook version of America the Book from the library last week and set about listening to Jon Stewart and a bunch of guests read the text.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): America the Book is presented as a mock civics textbook that attempts to explain the history of democracy in the United States. Starting back with a quick look at the discovery of America and the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock and moving through to the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, and the Continental Congress, Stewart immediately sets an irreverent, biting, and very funny tone that will be maintained throughout the book’s nine chapters.
Stewart goes on to cover such topics as the President, Congress, the Judicial branch, Campaigns and Elections, and the Media in subsequent chapters. Each chapter is filled with Stewart’s spot-on observations and criticisms of the subject at hand, and ends with hilarious Discussion Questions and Classroom Activities. As a bonus, there are even a few humorous guest essays from people like Stephen Colbert, Ed Helms, and Samantha Bee.
My Reaction: I was very impressed by America the Book, and found myself laughing out loud a LOT while listening to this book. I’ve never watched a single episode of The Daily Show before and am not too familiar with Jon Stewart, so I was really taken by surprise at how funny this book was.
I have a feeling Stewart is a liberal, but he takes shots at both Democrats and Republicans in the book. People like Clinton, Kerry, Reagan, and Bush jr. are all targeted at some point, and I felt the criticism levied at each of these individuals was well deserved. In fact, most of the complaints Stewart has about the government are warranted on some level, which makes the book even better.
The best part of America the Book is that Stewart scatters actual tidbits of knowledge in with the satire, making it a great refresher in American history for those of us who have been out of school for ages. I’m not saying you should prepare for a citizenship test with this book as your primary source material or anything like that, but it does contain at least a few solid facts.
After checking out other customer reviews, I realized I made a huge mistake by listening to the audiobook version instead of going with the regular printed text. Apparently, the real book has a bunch of funny illustrations, drawings, and charts, as well as lots of little “Were You Aware?” boxes that contained additional fun facts and info. Obviously this stuff couldn’t be included in an audiobook, so I completely missed out on some funny material.
Overall, I thought America the Book by Jon Stewart was excellent. It definitely lived up to all the hype, and will have you laughing at our government no matter where your political loyalties are. I highly recommend this book if you’re in the mood for something funny!