America (the book) : a citizen's guide to democracy inaction

A humorous and satirical look at our country, the ideals it was based on, those who founded it, and how it compares to other areas of the world.
Unless you are already an expert on America, democracy and everything pertaining to it, you will find yourself wondering whether the information contained

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in this book is the truth, or a joke. The answer to that question is, "yes." I had to resort to an internet search more often than I care to admit, but I found that I learned more by being prompted by my ignorance of their point than I would have from reading a dry text book. The design is early elementary school textbook, which I found quite entertaining. The "Were You Aware" margin notes were especially hilarious, as were the footnotes. It's unfortunate; however, that in order to point out distressing truths about our 'great nation' the authors were forced to resort to humor. I have long been a fan of the Daily Show because, albeit in the guise of 'comedy', they are not afraid to engage in the kind of true and necessary journalism that the 'legitimate' media seems to have let fall by the wayside. This book is an extension of that aim, and accomplishes it's purpose quite well.
Note: This book sits on our coffee table, with works by Bill Maher, Michael Moore, and Al Franken. It's what we like to call 'The Coffee Table of Leftism"

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This is hilarious! Anyone who likes Jon Stewart will love this book. Although every page is laugh-out-loud funny, it still makes some very good political points, especially about President Bush II.

Really great book. Fun for anyone to read (young adult+). Good for a coffee-table or other casual reading place.

This dead-on spoof on a high school textbook, complete with discussion questions at the end of each chapter, about American politics and history is absolutely hysterical. The writing is stellar, clear, and concise, and filled with side-splitting commentary on everything, and everyone, in the

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American political scene.

“Do you know why we call them amendments? Because they amend! They fix mistakes or correct omissions and they themselves can be changed. If we had meant for the Constitution to be written in stone we would have written it in stone. Most things were written in stone back then, you know. I’m not trying to be difficult but it’s bothersome when you blame your own inflexibility and extremism on us.

Not that we weren’t awesome. We wrote the constitution in the time it takes you nimrods to figure out which is the aye button and which is the nay.” {pg. x, aka Thomas Jefferson’s forward}

Despite it’s satire and comedy, America (The Book) has a fair amount of truth, and makes American government all the more interesting.

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Very good and very funny.

It's fun to play the 'Find your Governor's Porn name':

* For the first name, use your state's capital
* For the last name, use your state's flower.

So, Mike Easley's porn name is 'Raleigh Dogwood'

If there's a better interpreter of American culture, society, politics today than Jon Stewart and his "Daily Show" counterparts, let me know. This book sits by my bed, like the family bible, for when I'm needing some reassurance that we're not all going to hell in George Bush's riverboat.

I actually learned some things from this book, since I read it before ever taking a government class and knew absolutely nothing about American politics. I suggest this as a great book to ease preteens into learning about the government, though it's also really funny for any age. Probably the more

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you know about the government, the more you'll understand.

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A must read.

If you like the Daily Show, you'll love this book. Simply hilarious. A working knowledge of American history will be useful in understanding a lot of the humor.

Funny look at the United States government by Stewart and the other writers of the Daily Show.

A fun silly book that captures the humor of the show quite accurately. It often pushes things slightly too far, but I think the show does that as well. On the other hand, isn't that part of the role of satire to push things too far?

I loved this book. It helps if you have some knowledge of American government and American history, but if you like the Daily Show, you'll love this book.

"The name of Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) became synonymous with an era, not unlike his colleague, Representative William Pleistocene (D-MN)."

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- America, the Book

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Funny ha ha. Great coffee table book. And breakfast reading.

The book reads like a mere transcription of "The Daily Show". Therefore the book, and even an audio transcription, doesn't really work.

This book is HILARIOUS. A spin that only the Daily Show could put onto American history. The pictures and graphics are fantastic. If you have ever watched the Daily Show and laughed, you should read this book.

thank you, Jon Stewart for having the cojones to bring american history to us this way. i certainly wouldn't recommend it to young kids, but sairtenly wide-eyed, open-minded college students (and others) will find great wisdom and logic here. thank you!!

The funniest book I have ever read. HIGHLY recommend as essential toilet reading.

A mostly hilarious assessment of modern U.S. democracy. At times the jokes made me roll my eyes rather than laugh, but worth the read.

Enjoyable, but I like the tv show better than the book.

Trying to take the humour of a TV program and putting into a book is a tricky task. Much of the time it works here. I was certainly amused enough to laugh aloud on several occasions while reading it, but I doubt it would stand a second reading. I think it would be a great book to flip through a bit

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while at a party.

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a parody book filled with truth -- I love it!

America the book is freakin' hilarious. No, seriously, hilarious. Yes, it points out some failings in democracy and the particular problems with Re...ehem....I mean, partisanship, but this book is also a great testament to the free speech, free media, and the unrestricted access to information by

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which these jokes were able to circulate. I think that Jon Stewart is a very intelligent man, and, although this satire might offend some, to me, this book is not about the flaws in the system, but the social problems we all must face as human beings living together on this planet. I recommend this read to all of those who want to learn (unfactual) information about presidential nicknames, the real duties of cabinet members, and what hijinks democratic nations will be up to in the future.

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Not as good as the show, but along much the same lines. Definitely an amusing overview of our form of government and how it works. If you like the show, you should like this. If you don't like the show, why are you even looking at the book?

America (the book) is a humorous, satirical take on American politics form Jon Stewart and the writers/producers of The Daily Show. Stewart takes actual historical events and knowledge and turns it upside down, forming the satire.