America (the Book) review

2004.10.30 — Culture | Politics | Books | by Derek Jensen

Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has a secret agenda. Stewart pretends that his little show is all about comedy, and often lame, gutter-ball comedy at that, and if it leaves you a little wiser at the end of the day, then it was strictly by accident. But the truth is: when you're watching their show, they're takin' your sorry ass back to school.

Since his tenure behind The Daily Show desk began, Stewart and friends have changed the guest lineup to include not only celebrities from movies and television, hawking their latest wares in weary tones, but also celebrities from politics and the news media. And if you're not paying attention, Stewart will sneak in a total non-celebrity from the deepest, driest bowels of government or back room of the political machine. They'll talk about the mechanics of government policy, and Stewart will make it funny anyway.

Now, The Daily Show staff shows its true colors with the new book America (the Book), a faux text book for the civics class you could only dream of in school. Like the show, the book explores its subject with irreverence and satire, treating the failures of government as a base for comedy. And it's not low comedy, either (well, not all of it—there are an awful lot of swear words).

The book's subtle attacks on the hypocrisy inherent in most historical forms of democracy, the innefficiencies of bureaucracy, and the way the political machine chews up time, money, and people are clever and insightful.

Since it is a fake school book, the book doesn't really address current events or even history beyond the basic history of democracy and the American form of it. So don't look for jokes about the Teapot Dome scandal or Whitewater. Some of that is there, but hidden in amongst things like descriptions of how presidents deal with problems. It's surprisingly non-partisan, altho any attack on the status quo will surely raise the hackles of conservatives before it even gets noticed by liberals.

Not much of the book is laugh-out-loud funny, but all of it is clever and amusing. It's a fast read, despite the choppy nature of it (chapter text is frequently interrupted by special sections, textbook-style, that focus on a particular topic, such as special interest lobbies or deceased political parties). The sidebars with Samantha Bee, who compares the American way to that of Canada, are especially funny.

But despite the humor and satire, America (the Book) betrays its authors' intent merely by taking the form of a text book. Most people will learn a surprising amount from reading it, especially if they slept thru their high school government class, which, The Daily Show is guessing, most of us did.

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