I know Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, and Colbert are more honest and reliable news sources than the rest of the media, I just don't believe it.

Ironically, it is that same gap between knowledge and belief that has resulted in this sad state.

the reactionary, opinionated pundits keep talking down to these little basic-cable comedy shows, but the fact that their feathers are so ruffled shows that they are afraid, and that they consider this to be as serious as the rest of us.

Why is Stewart the journalist who asks hard questions about the war? Why does he seem utterly ridiculous when he simply imitates real people? Why is Colbert the one who asked the senator who tried to put the ten commandments in his state courthouses (Lynn Westmoreland) just what they actually were, showing that the senator could name only three?

More importantly, why doesn't this invigorate or upset anyone? Colbert's White House Press Corp address was the most impressive and honest satire on the state of our politics and the media who serve them. The fact that it was the only one should not diminish it.

The world is gone mad. If Revelation is come, I can only hope that even bad Christians get to go to heaven, because I don't want to be stuck here with the likes of Bush and Westmoreland. If I didn't have a front seat to the odd implosion of American culture, I might think about moving to Canada.

Oh yes, and Reuters has been bought out.

I'm a big fan of The Daily Show, and was very happy when I received this book as a gift. But, I actually couldn't do much more than flip through it, after trying to read the first 20 pages or so and being miserably disappointed.

In my opinion, Jon Stewart's wit, sarcasm and wry insight just doesn't translate well off the small screen and into print.

A few years old now, so some of the political stuff is outdated. (I bought my copy used at a Goodwill for mere pennies on the dollar. PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR, bitches.). But funny is funny, and the satire remains as sharp and biting as you'd expect from The Daily Show geniuses.

If you like Jon Stewart and the Daily Show then you will probably enjoy this book as well. With the usual wit of the aforementioned people, it is a laugh out loud look at American History. In the format of a textbook, they provide facts loosely based off truth with an actual historian attempting to correct the more egregious errors. With discussion questions and games dividing the book into easy to digest chapters, they cover everything from the birth of democracy, to how our government is set up, to which disease you are likely to contract in South East Asia.

It was a quick read that often had me giggling at its ridiculousness.

Jon Stewart doesn't disappoint anyone familiar with his wit and wisdom -- and this book would make a nice introduction for anyone who might have been living under a rock and is unfamiliar with the former "The Daily Show" host.

Jon Stewart. What else do you need to know. Quirky and hilarious.

In the wake of everyone talking about people living in "bubbles" in the wake of the 2016 US Presidential election, I have to say that this book isn't going to puncture or cross any bubbles. That said, I found it an engaging and amusing very brief summary of the "basics" sprawling topics of US history and politics. For me it was a general refresher of many things that sounded vaguely familiar from school, but which I should really know better/have paid more attention to. Although this is definitely liberal, it pokes fun at the absurdity of the US system in every direction, so it didn't bother me so much. If you're looking for a book with proposed solutions, rather than one humorously identifying flaws, then this isn't the place for you, though. Not to sound like a jerk, but I could also foresee people who didn't have a strong background in US history of politics to believe some of the sarcasm/jokes interspersed, kind of like how Onion articles are mistaken for truth. I suppose that that is another testament to the absurdity of politics, though.

The Daily Show cast presents the book America. I had previously read the book, and this time I listened to the audio book version. I liked the audio book better because it was more like watching The Daily Show.

read it years ago, but also very funny, in my humble opinion....

If anyone has not seen Jon Stewart's Comedy Central/More4 show, then why ever not? His prizewinning show scares the right wing media pundits into submission with his current influence on the young of America. Startling statistics show that rather than network news, the 18-25 bracket get all they need to know from Stewart's irreverence and pointing out of cronyism and stupidity in the corridors of the White House and the Senate. It's way funnier in a simple way with all the essential political facts that Bremner, Bird and Fortune tends to baffle us all with. This book is Jon's essential history of the great land he calls home...

Although this came out in 2004, it is incredibly amazing how still politically spot-on his insights are...

As always, Stewart has his eyes open without filters; he understands how things interconnect - even when the connections aren’t so apparent. His voice is strong and strident, as I always hoped it would stay after his (much lamented - for me, anyway) departure from “The Daily Show”. He still has many outlets - broadcast and written - to remind us not to keep our eyes on the shiny little thing in the corner, but to see and realize what is really happening and it’s consequences while we’ve been slack-jawed by seemingly other wild and outrageous events.

He points out the P.T. Barnum-esque & Wizard of Oz shenanigans really happening right beneath our watch that we’re not even aware of. P.T. Barnem’s phrase, “there’s a sucker born every minute” rings true in ways that I had forgotten, even when I thought I was hyper-aware of the state of the country and the world, and our, as the United States of America and her citizens, were/are being perceived. And all the “Wizard of Oz” ‘don’t pay attention to that man behind the curtains’ hijinks in 2017 (and on, I regretfully suspect) mentality of just about all of our elected leaders and the atrocities being committed, denied, and slipped past our glazed over from repeated trauma eyes will likely continue.

But Stewart, in his reassuring but on the nose - using the tone he’s known for - to get the hard facts across to his audience is still there, keeping his eyes opened and un-glazed, and his wickedly informed satiric voice steadiest day steadying those who were on the fence and ready to give up and fall over due to a feeling of helplessness; it reassures those who were worried they were alone or had been falling for the “fake news” minority viewpoint, and Stewart just lays his facts - THE facts - out for us to see.

And he helps us all feel reassured we’re not alone, or crazy, or falling off the wrong side of the fence, and gives us thoughts, and information, and a means to gather our brainpower into one powerful will and see ourselves actually able to DO something. Something about the “Fall and Decline of Western Civilization” and “Rome is burning” attitude and that no-one is capable of changing the D.C. politics of circus and Head-of-Clownery or Buffonery or Ignorance or Immunity to anything (pick your moniker); just like the Teflon Don (Giacatti, a big deal when Trump was getting his early machines going in the 80s and earned New York City/State utter disdain, but left Twitterer-in-Chief feeling maybe there was a second set of rules and imperviousness) — whatever you want to call him...Mr. Multiple Bankruptcy maybe?

Stewart’s reasoning, and frustrated but unstoppable fierceness have not ebbed. He leads us back to the clean water and away from the kool-aid, and throws some really interesting thoughts & ideas into the forum.

In the voice that many of us came to trust more than the “Official” news media for 100% accurate if snarky reporting (with corrected & admitted notations if what he said turned out to be wrong with no shame in admitting he erred); that voice is still there to remind us who we are, and what we, if gathered, motivated & determined, can do in these times.

John Oliver, in my opinion, and Samantha Bee, formerly from TDS staff, have taken up the torch so admirably to disseminate the real goings-on to the weary public, but no one can incite with words - either written or spoken (there’s an Audiobook companion) or be on your TV in the comfort of your own home like Jon Stewart.

And his insights are spot on...Maybe even enough to motivate us to long-overdue action.

One of the most hilarious, shocking, thought-provoking books you'll likely come across, ever. This book expressed all the outrage, hypocrisy and helplessness that many feel regarding their government, without being overwhelmed by it. And how many books can say that they have pics of nude SCOTUS justices? America (The Book) stands alone in so many ways, you just have to experience it to get the meaning.