I Am America (And So Can You!) Audio CD – CD, October 9, 2007

This will be my second read through of this book. I loved it, it was a fun read. Everyone should read it, since it automatically makes you 25% more patriotic just by opening it. I, sadly, lost my original copy while fleeing my manchild of a boyfriend's house. I must have abandoned many beloved tomes in my haste to no longer serve as my partner's surrogate mother, as I keep discovering books that I was certain I own, yet are nowhere to be found on my shelves. I chose the seller mostly at random, and boy, was I happy with the results! The shipping was faster than expected, the book itself is in excellent condition, and is a First Edition, and so is arguably better than the copy I'm replacing. It's all fancy with it's built in bookmark ribbon and stuff. I'm very happy with the purchase, freaking tickled, in fact. So if anyone runs into my ex boyfriend, tell his childish ass to have fun with his two boring, normal copies of I Am America And So Can You, while I enjoy my super awesome first edition!

I Am America (And So Can You!) will astonish you. This book is as hilarious insightful as Stephen Colbert himself. Stephen Colbert is a national treasure, highlighting both the ridiculousness of all things politics and the dichotomy of moral right and wrong. In “I Am America (And So Can You)”, Colbert shines doing what he does best: Explaining political concepts to uninformed readers while mocking and chiding the politicians who keep them in the dark. This book arrived fast and I was finished reading by the time the clock struck 1. I literally could not put this book down to eat. The binding on this book is beautiful, with a shiny velvet-red finish on the page-ends and a ribbon emblazoned with * First Edition * to mark your progress through this wonder of a book. The outside bindings are a beautiful red-white-and-blue themed menagerie and the heel of the book is engraved in bold lettering. The book throughout is filled with wonderful illustrations and images that fit the theme and style of the book and give it an overall cohesiveness that is shocking well built for a comedy book. However, Stephen Colbert has been constantly surprising us with his know-how and insight since his early career on the Daily Show. I am completely satisfied with this book, the shipping, and the content itself. Stephen Colbert has churned out another masterful book from his wonderful comedic mind and the word is a funnier, better, more politically informed place for it. Four Stars.

If you like the Colbert Report, you'll love this book. If you don't like, or don't know, Stephen's completely insane Comedy Central TV show, you will probably still do a good bit of laughing, although perhaps against your will.Colbert's basic shtick is that he is a conservative nutjob. He does it so well that some conservatives really do believe he's on their side. Of course, it's all satire; he's actually a progressive in very thin disguise.Another important part of his shtick is that he's an egomaniac. He manages to combine these two elements quite deftly. He portrays a white male Catholic (which apparently he really was as a little boy) who has incredibly confused concepts of reality, religion, politics, and just about everything else.The format of the book is also interesting. It has certain recurring "advertising" items, a segment entitled "Stephen Speaks for Me: A chance for average Americans to agree with what I think." Each chapter starts with a prologue shaped into an American flag, with one word where the field of stars would be, and all caps red print making up the stripes on the white background. He IS America, you see! There are marginal notes and footnotes that are quite as funny as the main text. There are two pages of stickers, one of flags to use for marginal comments, and one of stickers to put on other books to grant them "The Stephen T. Colbert for the Literary Excellence." (Yes, that superfluous article is in there.) There are fake games and quizzes and puzzles, and generally plenty of opportunity to have fun in the mad, mad, mad Colbert Nation.There are also some real insights, so beware if you thought it was all just for laughs. You may find yourself laughing at something which is really too true to be funny, the way zen masters hit you upside the head.I love this book.

I bought this because I am a huge fan of Stephen, but it was a tragic mistake. I opened it, read the forward, and I was assaulted by comedy!!! My lungs became instantly inflamed and hurt awfully. I need to read this two pages at a time at most, lest I go into traction! Thanks a whole hell of a lot Mr. Colbert!

I am a big fan of Stephen's show. I think he is witty and brilliant which became apparent during the writer's strike where he wrote all of his material himself. The book is akin to his show - just not as dense and as another reviewer noted - it gets a little repetitive after a while. Don't get me wrong - it is all in character of who he projects but a little digression here and there would have helped. I keep finding myself picking it up again from time to time and reading another bit but compared to 'America, the book' by his producer Jon Steward it pales.Anyhow, it's inexpensive and if you like his style and find yourself killing some time - it's ok. But it is by far not as polished as I had hoped it would be. It seems he sat down and wrote what came to his mind. I had hoped for a little more effort.

Colbert is my second book on Kindle. This book is full of footnotes, figures, photos, tables and charts. Except for the footnotes (which take a few cliks to read and go back) none of the other things are readable as displayed. None of them can be magnfied on Kindle. The embedded text in tables, charts and photo captions cannot be magnified. This makes the book 75% readable. I am thinking of returning this book. (This also says that Kindle has no future for technical books with figures and tables.)Now for the book - full disclosures - I like Colbert show. The book in parts is funny but is also dragging in other parts. And without the visual aids (charts and tables), it leaves you unsatisfied. May be a print version would have been more enjoyable.

Something I have noticed about a lot of British people nowadays: increasing snobbishness over enjoying American humour. I can't honestly say I blame these people. After all, when the shows and movies we get the rights to air out here include things like Furry Vengeance and Two And A Half Men, it can be sort of discouraging. But just like our own comedy (you can't really say that we have no faults, people) you do find some gems in among the bland, uninspiring crowd. Actually, there are quite a few. The screaming eagle of the fake news circuit, Stephen Colbert, is one of them.Like his TV show, The Colbert Report (the t's are silent; formerly aired on FXUK, bizarrely enough), I Am America (And So Can You!) is a cleverly crafted satirical look at many (still) current issues from the point of view of Mr - sorry, Dr - Stephen Colbert. Colbert is a proud opinionated Republican, and he has ideas that he wants to educate you on. The blurb on the back is right. Lifting the book makes you feel exactly 25% more American. Don't let that deter you; it's a very good read.The Colbert character is known for having some pretty harsh views. He warns you of this in the very beginning. He's not afraid to tell you exactly how he feels about Mexicans, why you're probably going to Hell if you're not Catholic or what root vegetable is trying to turn him gay. And he's not just a concerned American - he IS America. He's not just the voice of a nation - he IS a nation. These aren't just his beliefs - these are the things that he knows to be true, thanks to that old gut feeling. You would do well to pull up a comfy chair (or a hard stool, or in my case a bed), sit down with this delicious tome and get ready to be slapped in the face with all-American edutainment. And you will enjoy it. Touching on religion, race and even homosexuality (but not in that way, you understand), I Am America (And So Can You!) is very difficult to put down, and not just because there's a picture of the man on just about every third page.Stephen is relentless in every chapter; they're a cascade of beliefs that really do seem like he shouted them into a tape recorder over a weekend. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem to go off on too many tangents, but we'll just assume that all that anger is pretty well-ordered in his head... or else his editor cleaned it up. His feelings are not just there on the page, but in the footnotes and even in the margins, so you don't miss a drop of Colbert's wit and genius. Or the instructions. Those are sort of important. As you might expect, he writes from the perspective of a frustrated upper-class twit, and to recognise how similar his opinions are to those of many of our upper classmen and politicians is simultaneously wonderful and devastating.While it is a very delightful "opinion" piece, saturated with sarcasm and well-meaning vitriol, sometimes you'll read a chapter and cringe, knowing that, while it's still beautifully done, there are people out there who actually believe this stuff and even use the same logic to justify their beliefs. Luckily for those people, the book is still written so that you can laugh whether you believe it or not. That is some feat, to write comedy that spans across so many levels.So I would say it's definitely worth a look. I would suggest that you borrow it before you decide on anything but the book advises me to tell you to just buy it. I think that's some advice worth following.Oh and, uh... If you're as stuffed up as me, laughter is not the best medicine. I found myself wheezing and spluttering while reading this in bed. Worth it, though.

Great book, read it on the bog.

Did not enjoy the humour.

hilarious and great value

I usually love Colbert's diatribes, shtick, but I just was not able to get into this book. I felt like it was a forced perspective on things which leached all personality from things. I guess one's tongue can be too far into one's cheek.