If you've ever heard the word "truthiness," you've witnessed the reach of faux conservative pundit Stephen Colbert. If you're a fan of Comedy Central's Colbert Report, then you're in on the joke, you know not to pronounce the "t" in "report," and you'll very likely enjoy Colbert's book, I Am America (And So Can You!).
Released in October 2007, I Am America is a spot-on parody of conservative books by the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter. It equally skewers any breezy, opinionated, self-righteous book, from Left or Right, whose author claims to have the answers on everything from dating to immigration. Delightfully trumping this genre with irony, the book's description explains that "You may not agree with everything that Stephen says, but at the very least, you'll understand that your differing opinion is wrong."
Satirizing many conservative rants, the book traces America's ills to sources such as non-Christians, illegal immigrants, single mothers, gay pride, and the liberal media-and in Colbert's world, "the forces aligned to destroy America" also include Kashi breakfast cereals, bunnies, robots, the Periodic Table, and the "whole-grain agenda."
One suspects that many jokes would be far funnier if Colbert were delivering them on the show. But there are many gems. The Hundred Years' War was a bad name for a war: "Never set a date for withdrawal." Olympic competition could be improved by adding consequences: "Rwanda beats Sweden in the high jump? They get to move to Sweden. If Afghanistan defeats us in the biathlon, they can have Connecticut."
Released in October 2007, I Am America is a spot-on parody of conservative books by the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter. It equally skewers any breezy, opinionated, self-righteous book, from Left or Right, whose author claims to have the answers on everything from dating to immigration. Delightfully trumping this genre with irony, the book's description explains that "You may not agree with everything that Stephen says, but at the very least, you'll understand that your differing opinion is wrong."
Satirizing many conservative rants, the book traces America's ills to sources such as non-Christians, illegal immigrants, single mothers, gay pride, and the liberal media-and in Colbert's world, "the forces aligned to destroy America" also include Kashi breakfast cereals, bunnies, robots, the Periodic Table, and the "whole-grain agenda."
One suspects that many jokes would be far funnier if Colbert were delivering them on the show. But there are many gems. The Hundred Years' War was a bad name for a war: "Never set a date for withdrawal." Olympic competition could be improved by adding consequences: "Rwanda beats Sweden in the high jump? They get to move to Sweden. If Afghanistan defeats us in the biathlon, they can have Connecticut."
Science is elitist, "constantly telling us what is and isn't flammable." The sports chapter has rotating sponsors, each outbidding the last for naming rights. A misspelled anti-piracy "WANING!" graces the back cover. Clever comments in the margins are reminiscent of the segment "The Word" on the Report. And the book includes the full text of his infamous speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
I Am America also nails the self-absorption common to many pundits, with photos and drawings of Colbert on more book surfaces than you can count, a foil seal for "The Stephen T. Colbert Award," a back-cover blurb from Colbert, and a circular-reference tagline of "from the author of I Am America (And So Can You!)."
I Am America also nails the self-absorption common to many pundits, with photos and drawings of Colbert on more book surfaces than you can count, a foil seal for "The Stephen T. Colbert Award," a back-cover blurb from Colbert, and a circular-reference tagline of "from the author of I Am America (And So Can You!)."
Most Colbert fans will probably like, if not love, the book. Some may be disappointed if comparing it to the Report, but the book is not the show, nor is it intended to be. It's exploring the parody in a different way. In an iTunes "Meet the Author" interview, Colbert noted: "It's the natural thing for a character like this to do. I mean, all those guys-Joe Scarborough, and Hannity, O'Reilly, Lou Dobbs-they all have their Who's Looking Out for You? or Our Broken Borders or Deliver Us from Evil...
"The book is a pure extension of the show, the same way that any of those books that we're modeling ourselves on are" extensions of their television origins, he said, happily adding, "except that ours has stickers." (And it does.)
"The book is a pure extension of the show, the same way that any of those books that we're modeling ourselves on are" extensions of their television origins, he said, happily adding, "except that ours has stickers." (And it does.)
So it is not quite, as a David Letterman book once claimed to be, "Like Watching TV in Convenient Book Form." But it is a highly entertaining read for Colbert fans as well as readers tired of "real" screaming-head books and ready for someone to poke a little fun.
To capture "things that simply cannot be conveyed in print," as Colbert says ("Inflection, for instance."), consider checking out the abridged audio book, as "shouted by the author." Colbert approves buying both, of course. iTunes users can download for free the "Meet the Author" podcast, which includes sample readings as well as the interview. But you didn't hear that from me. No free rides! (See p. viii.)
To capture "things that simply cannot be conveyed in print," as Colbert says ("Inflection, for instance."), consider checking out the abridged audio book, as "shouted by the author." Colbert approves buying both, of course. iTunes users can download for free the "Meet the Author" podcast, which includes sample readings as well as the interview. But you didn't hear that from me. No free rides! (See p. viii.)
