The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Audiobook)

A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction

By: The Writers of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart

Narrated by: Jon Stewart

Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Termed a "political king-maker" by Newsweek, and "the Dan Rather of infotainment" by Vanity Fair, Jon Stewart, along with the writers of The Daily Show, combines his riotous wit and razor-sharp insight in this hilarious book.

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 Audiobook), 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.

Among the topics:

Ancient Rome: The First Republicans

The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted, and White

The President: King of Democracy

The Supreme Court: 18 Legs, Four Tits, One Mission

Running for Office: What Are You Thinking?

The Media: Can It Be Stopped?

The Future of Democracy: The Constitutional Robocracy and You!

This program contains explicit language.

(P)2004 Time Warner Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Finalist, Humor, 2005
• Quill Award Winner, Audiobooks, 2005
• Grammy Award Winner, Best Comedy Album, 2005

"Cheeky, irreverent, and playfully ingenuous....This humorous sendup of American politics never fails to entertain, poke fun, and provoke thought." (Publishers Weekly)
"The devil's own comedic handiwork, a side-splitting guide to the abuses and absurdities built into our political processes and institutions....Sustained clever writing and a smart, durable premise....As with Mr. Stewart's priceless anchorman persona and his show's hawk-eyed editing for real news gaffes, there is enough truth here to make America almost as instructive as it is sly." (The New York Times)

only slightly funny

I have never heard John Stewart, so the material should be fresh. I love political humor and I'm a liberal, so the point of view should be right. I liked the format where it mimics a school program "in this section you will learn" with chime sound effects. Nevertheless, I found only a few funny spots and all the material seemed tired and overdone.

Ho Hum!!

I found this to be dull and NOT funny as most reviews said - cannot find too much to laugh at in this book - I would like to get my money back for this one...

Worst audio book yet.

What disappointed you about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Audiobook)?

The book is bone dry. I love Jon Stewart and the Daily show. But there wasn't any humor. The few mildly funny moments were by Samantha Bee. I didn't actually laugh ONCE during the whole audiobook. I just kept waiting for it to get funny, and it didn't.

Has The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Audiobook) turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes/No. I don't think I will be getting any of Jon Stewart's audio books again. I like the humor genre in general, but this is not humorous.

What aspect of Jon Stewart’s performance would you have changed?

I love his voice but the way the book is written just makes it seem like a bitchy text book.

What character would you cut from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Audiobook)?

All of them.

Don't waste your time or your money!

I could not listen to this book for more than 5 minutes without becoming bored. I had to start over and it was no better the second time, so I just deleted it.

Cynicism lacks wit

I thought this book would be an entertaining synopsis of American History. Instead I found this book full of potty humor and fabrication. It's a shame that the author thinks so little of its audience. There are plenty of humorous and ridiculous stories about the founding of our country without resorting to cheap shots and make believe. Perhaps next time the author will do his homework.

Disappointing

A real disappointment. It's less than four hours, yet I just couldn't make it through. There are some good one-liners in there, but the format of trudging through the basics of American government is just really, really dull.

Trash

I listened to Ann Coulter, Bill Maher, and then Jon Stewart, et al, in that order, 2 weeks before the 2004 election. This "reading plan" was perfect for contrasting the three works: the intelligence level of the content decreased as the profanity increased.

Without the repetition of the F-word, "America (The Audiobook)" would last less than an hour. If the lies about Jefferson and Sally Hemmings (debunked in Coulter's "How to Talk to a Liberal") were removed, there would be 30 minutes of bad jokes, snide comments about Jesus as the only true judge, and references to Saturday morning cartoons.

The only positive was 5 minutes of accurate descriptions of talk show hosts.

This was a waste of my time and money.

Can't really recommend it

I like Jon Stewart but can't say that I'm impressed with this book at all. It's not horrible but based on Stewart's comedic talent I witness on TV, I expected a lot more out of this book than what he's delivered. I struggled between one and two stars. So it's really a one and a half star. Not very funny. If you're a teenager or college student, you may enjoy it more than I did as a young professional male in his mid 30s. Not a lot of substance in the book. There are some typical Jon Stewart observations and witty remarks about our system. I enjoyed his jabs at the Canadians a little more than the rest of he book. But overall, I really streched myself to give him 2 stars on this book.

30 Minutes is the perfect amount of Jon Stewart

I love the Daily Show and find Stewart very funny. Unfortunately, I don't think the same kind of humor or cleverness was put into the book's writing. I found myself tired of it less than 1/2 of the way through.

whew! still airing out my ipod

I was so suprised at how much I disliked this book. Jon Stewart is one of my favorites. He's so witty and spot on normally.
There are some very funny moments and I kept thinking that things were picking up... but then things fell flat again, and stayed that way for what felt like forever.

This read is also such a good example of how near continual use of swear words takes away their punch and any cool factor they have. He wound up sounding ridiculous instead of hip.
I sure wish I hadn't bothered with this unfunny, disappointing waste of time. I'll catch him on TV and try to forget...