I Am America (And So Can You!)

If you've seen much of Colbert's nightly program, you might know what to expect from his book. He spends half an hour channeling Bill O'Reilly and other television blowhards as he educates his audience better than they do, giving his spin on what's happening while always finding clever ways to poke fun at their rhetoric. I Am America is pretty much the show in book form, except instead of talking about the day's topics he covers general talking points across a broad spectrum of American life. I thought the "And so can you!" part of title might mean there would be sections on how to be more like Stephen, but all that really is is several references to the fact that this book is entirely his opinion and you should believe every word of it. It got a little repetitive as it came to its close.

Part of the Colbert persona is his rampant narcissism, like when he walks across the stage over to the night's guest accompanied by cheers from his audience, instead of having them enter and get the fanfare. But on the show, even while he's making fun of the guest, he still gives them the opportunity to make their point and pitch whatever book they're selling, while this book is 100% Stephen. It's still funny, but would probably be served better by reading snippets here and there instead of straight through. In addition to the humorous main text, there's a lot of little extras, like stickers to use to voice your approval of other American books and diagrams showing how to properly "retire" your copy for the evening. It's enjoyable light reading for anyone who gets a kick out of his show.