Amazon.com Exclusive Content
Jon Stewart on America (The Book)

Sure, we could write a pithy blurb telling you all about America (The Book), by Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show, but it's much easier--and funnier--to let Jon Stewart tell you all about this irreverent book himself.

Watch Jon Stewart talk to Amazon.com customers about America (The Book) from the set of The Daily Show.
Read or listen to our exclusive interview with Jon Stewart.
Read our exclusive Election 2004 interview with Jon Stewart.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Comedy Central's TheDaily Show proudly touts itself as a fake news show, so it's fitting that phony blurbs adorn this audiobook's packaging ("A Bridget Jones's Diary for the comedic nonfiction government textbook set," says Melissa Bank, author of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing; and "So informative, I even found out who I was," raves Albert Gallatine, Secretary of the Treasury from 1801–1814). The discs inside offer more deadpan wit, as the authors trace not only the history of America, but of democracy and humanity, all in a mere four hours. The editors and producers who handled this audio adaptation deserve a round of applause; they managed to take a book dependent on a wealth of charts, graphs and sidebars and translate it into audio while still preserving the fact that the book is a parody of a textbook. The result is a highly entertaining listen that showcases the expert comic delivery of Stewart and his Daily Show "correspondents" Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry and Ed Helms. Stewart narrates the bulk of the audiobook, and the others chime in at the end of each chapter to read the "supplemental material," which includes Discussion Questions, Classroom Activities and sidebars on everything from how things are done differently in Canada to why the founding fathers were "unelectable." Nifty sound effects (like classroom bells) and well-chosen music (which consists primarily of stately, almost pompous horn orchestrations) round out this excellent audio package. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" is the best fake news program on the airwaves. In this abridgment of his current bestseller, Stewart and his staff turn their attention to the political history of the United States. Formatted as a high school audiovisual teaching kit, this unique production combines the voices of the "Daily Show" regulars with patriotic fanfares, farcical self-assessment tools, comical class projects, and even a cameo by Thomas Jefferson. Profane, snarky, and sometimes merely hilarious, this module won't prepare anyone for a citizenship test, but it might excite an interest in the truth behind the theater of contemporary political dialogue. In the tradition of Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Dick Gregory, this recording is liable to become a classic of political satire. J.W. 2005 Spoken Word Grammy Nominee © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM OUR EDITORS

In gleeful response to the passions aroused by the 2004 elections, the wizards behind The Daily Show with Jon Stewart have compiled a guide for Americans who still retain a sense of humor. In delightfully digestible chapters, this absorbing discourse saunters through the entire history of misrule, from "Athens: Our Big Fat Greek Forerunners" to "Rome: The First Republicans" to "The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted and White." This bipartisan guide answers vital questions such as "The Media: Can It Be Stopped?" and "What Type of Government Best Suits You?" Guaranteed to keep you in stitches all the way to the polling booth, and beyond.

ANNOTATION

Now that another presidential campaign is in full swing, so is Jon Stewart, whose new book and audiobook, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction appear next Monday.

In the audio version, with tongues planted firmly in cheeks, Stewart and Daily Show reporters, including Ed Helms, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and Rob Corddry, read passages from the book, illustrating how the audio edition of a title can remain literally true to the book yet add so much to it. For example, in the audio version of America--a spoof of a government/civics textbook, replete with questions for discussion, suggestions for classroom activities and supplemental material--breaks between the various narrated segments are signaled by chimes and other school-like sound effects.

"We wanted to see how miserable we could make ourselves," says Stewart of the undertaking. "It just wasn't enough work doing the show everyday. I said 'What if we added something completely overwhelming?' Seriously, though, the book was a much larger undertaking than we ever imagined." Stewart was quick to praise everyone involved with both book and audiobook. "They did a phenomenal job. It's everything we wanted it to be. We're very pleased with it."

The audiobook was produced and directed by John McElroy, principal of Gashouse Production Company. "It's a very funny and very smart book, which fans won't find surprising," said McElroy. "I abridged, selecting what I thought would be the funniest and worked some with Ben Karlin, one of the head writers [and an executive producer] for the Daily Show. This is satire in the best tradition of satire. The barbs aren't to make us giggle, but there is a sense of moral outrage suffused with humor."

The recording for America (the Audiobook) took place in New York City over several sessions in late June/early July. "We had the correspondents in on one day for two-hour shots," said McElroy. "Only one of them took up the whole two hours and that was Stephen Colbert, who read the supplementary material sections, which required more time. He's an extremely funny guy." Stewart was on board for his own studio time, though his slots were memorably interrupted when real life came calling. "Right in the middle of the recording sessions [July 3] his wife went into labor," said McElroy. Production was suspended for some paternity leave and then the ball was rolling again.

"It took a total of six hours, perhaps," said McElroy of Stewart's recording time. "He [Stewart] was pretty extraordinary. It's one thing to speak in bursts on a half-hour TV show and land your jokes. But to read for three hours straight, and land your jokes as you're reading, that's something else. He came in intimately familiar with the material and knew how to deliver all the jokes, so he didn't need a lot of direction. And the correspondents rarely took more than a take or two. It came down to things like, 'should we do this with a home girl accent or a Duchess of Windsor accent?'"

Stewart says he was comfortable with the studio process. "I made them put an audience and a TV camera in there so I'd feel right at home," he says. "No, no. I live in New York City so I'm used to being in small, cramped spaces covered with foam. So I enjoyed the recording studio." Asked about whether he shared the microphone with his fake news team, Stewart commented: "I have not met many of them. I've heard good things, but I wouldn't want to be in the same booth with them."

All told, Stewart says the audiobook is a sort of gift to Daily Show's watchers. "Our audience isn't readers," Stewart notes. "I wanted to do something for the people who want to just sit quietly and listen." Stewart is a sometime audiobook listener himself, though. "I occasionally buy the audiobook, but it's always a bit disconcerting for me. I bought one of Stephen Hawking's books about how the universe works, and I thought maybe I would ingest the information by osmosis or something. But as I was listening, I realized, 'Oh my god. I'm incredibly stupid!' "

Of course, Stewart's fans and guests would beg to differ. Asked about the A-list politicians (in addition to pundits and pop-culture personalities) who stop by the Daily Show, Stewart is happy there is no shortage of talking heads just yet. "Every form of media where a message may be disseminated- —from TV to billboards to the back of a streaker at a baseball game-— a politician will co-opt that. The truth is they need mediums more than I need guests."

As for comparisons to "legitimate" news sources, "We're so not in that world," says Stewart. "The currency is so different. I've been on TV before. I'm just happy that it's lasted this long. I started out as a comic and that's where I'll end up when this is all over." But odds are Daily Show and audiobook fans won't want this run to be over anytime soon.

—Shannon Maughan, PW Daily © 2004 Reed Business Information.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jon Stewart, host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show, and his coterie of patriots, deliver a hilarious look at American government.

American-style democracy is the world's most beloved form of government, which explains why so many other nations are eager for us to impose it on them. But what is American democracy? In America (The Book), Jon Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff offer their insights into our unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and exploring the reasons why concepts like one man, one vote, government by the people, and every vote counts have become such popular urban myths. Topics include: Ancient Rome: The First Republicans; The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted, and White; The Media: Can it Be Stopped?; and more!

FROM THE CRITICS

Tom Carson - The New York Times Sunday Book Review

… the book's ultimate joke -- on our educational system, if not us in general -- is that it's not only more informative about how American government and culture work than the textbooks it burlesques, but gives us a keener sense of having a stake in both. So what if it's by a TV comic and his stable of wiseacre cronies? Dan Rather has been my favorite comedian for decades, and while I'd have to give him the edge over Stewart on laughs, he isn't nearly as perceptive. Not to sound like Samantha Bee, but could I please be the first to nominate America (The Book) for this year's history Pulitzer?

Janet Maslin - The New York Times

… the devil's own comedic handiwork, a side-splitting guide to the abuses and absurdities built into our political processes and institutions … America can be opened at random, the way it will be in college dormitories when it becomes much loved and indispensable. But it can also be read straight through, thanks to sustained clever writing and a smart, durable premise.

Publishers Weekly

Comedy Central's The Daily Show proudly touts itself as a fake news show, so it's fitting that phony blurbs adorn this audiobook's packaging ("A Bridget Jones's Diary for the comedic nonfiction government textbook set," says Melissa Bank, author of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing; and "So informative, I even found out who I was," raves Albert Gallatine, Secretary of the Treasury from 1801-1814). The discs inside offer more deadpan wit, as the authors trace not only the history of America, but of democracy and humanity, all in a mere four hours. The editors and producers who handled this audio adaptation deserve a round of applause; they managed to take a book dependent on a wealth of charts, graphs and sidebars and translate it into audio while still preserving the fact that the book is a parody of a textbook. The result is a highly entertaining listen that showcases the expert comic delivery of Stewart and his Daily Show "correspondents" Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry and Ed Helms. Stewart narrates the bulk of the audiobook, and the others chime in at the end of each chapter to read the "supplemental material," which includes Discussion Questions, Classroom Activities and sidebars on everything from how things are done differently in Canada to why the founding fathers were "unelectable." Nifty sound effects (like classroom bells) and well-chosen music (which consists primarily of stately, almost pompous horn orchestrations) round out this excellent audio package. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile