I Am America (And So Can You!) [Paperback]

When the television series All in the Family came out, it was quite a sensation when Archie Bunker expressed all of the prejudices that we had come to believe were held by white working class members of society in the 1960s through the early 1980s. Just to be sure that no missed the point that the show was a satire, Archie would argue with his liberal college student son-in-law, Michael Stivic (played by Rob Reiner), to bring out the contrasts to Archie's Neanderthal beliefs. Archie (played brilliantly by Carroll O'Connor) was always happy to be right in his own mind, even when proven wrong.

Part of what made the show so funny was to hear someone espousing prejudiced views in a seemingly sincere fashion, with no apologies to anyone.

Stephen Colbert's book, I Am America, captures that same essential humor as he espouses the prejudiced views of the white conservative person . . . but with no one to argue with him except you the reader in your own mind.

If you have ever watched Mr. Colbert perform on television, I'm sure you'll be like me and hear his voice recounting the one-liners. That made it extra fun for me!

The book has an unusual design that adds to the humor, including room for margin and foot notes to spear the points even harder, fictitious essays by average citizens, humorous photographs and illustrations, puzzles, games, stickers, and even a bound-in book ribbon.

Unlike a lot of humor books, he doesn't shy away from the delicate subjects like religion, sex, homosexuals, evolution, and illegal immigrants. Having seen how much fun he had in those areas, it made me wonder why more comedians don't take these areas in "clean" ways like Mr. Colbert does.

The humor often digs into a deeper level, exposing the hypocrisy of self-serving self-promotions that many book authors shamelessly employ, those who failed to act in honorable ways (such as those who produced names of "fellow travelers" for the HUAC in the 1950s), and even the toadying that goes in with regards to Islam in the media.

The only way he could have made this book any funnier would have been to create a state-by-state version of wrong headedness. Perhaps that will be the focus for a future book.

I Am America bears close reading; many of the layers of humor are well submerged below the surface of the main gag. I found myself rereading many sections several times in appreciation for the subtle jokes.

Alas, it's all too true. If you are like me, you'll probably find yourself realizing that you, too, have room to improve.

Bravo, Mr. Colbert!

Even if you had accidentally landed on this Amazon page with no intention of buying Stephen Colbert's book, besides becoming 25% more patriotic, you will thank him a thousand times over if you finish reading this one. That's exactly how I started watching Colbert's Report, and I can swear, hands down, that nothing takes priority for me at 8.30 PM EST everyday than watching this man on television. The surprise pack of this book is the Homosexual Agenda (They're prowling. Like a gay pride of lions, according to Colbert) and ''Religion,'' in which ''Stephen'' forces all of us to jump on the ''Jesus Train.' He has also shared with us the complete transcript of his infamous speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner. As you may recall, his remarks fried not only Bush, but the entire D.C. elite. Given that he cut so close to the bone of his audience that the next year they invited Rich Little to be the 'keynote' entertainer so that there would be no 'danger' of anyone saying anything relevant or critical of the elite in D.C. Colbert concludes the reason he wrote the book was because he fears America has lost its balls. He hopes to re-ballify us. He claims he has written a constitution for the Colbert Nation, and agrees we may not agree with everything he had to say. But at the very least, we will understand that our differing opinion is wrong. That's Stephen Colbert!!! I won't be surprised if does an interview of himself by running to that corner left table as he always does. So if you always wanted to become America, go read this book! It's outrageously funny and controversially conservative. You will love it. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.

For anyone with two brain cells to rub together, this book is hilarious. The send-ups of everything from politics to family life is razor-sharp. I particularly liked the photos at the beginning of each chapter- they alone were enough to send me into hysterics. (Warning: do not read this in bed if someone next to you is already asleep!)
If, on the other hand, you think, as some reviewers seem to, that Colbert is actually expounding the hyper-conservative views expressed in this book (and you actually want to Be America, as per the title), then please do us all a favour, and read something besides tabloids for a change. Hey, you're already on this site...halfway there already!