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62nd out of 100 books
—
135 voters
America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't
Book store nation, in the history of mankind there has never been a greater country than America. You could say we're the #1 nation at being the best at greatness.
But as perfect as America is in every single way, America is broken! And we can't exchange it because we're 236 years past the 30-day return window. Look around--we don't make anything anymore, we've mortgaged ou...more
But as perfect as America is in every single way, America is broken! And we can't exchange it because we're 236 years past the 30-day return window. Look around--we don't make anything anymore, we've mortgaged ou...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
October 2nd 2012
by Grand Central Publishing
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Jan 09, 2013
Paquita Maria Sanchez
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
truthiness
I listened to an entire audio book! Twice! I mean, sure, it was basically just because I spent 12 of my 48 hours of friends and family Christmas visiting blitz-time alone in my car, and I didn't want to cause a fatal wreck by constantly readjusting the radio station on my cheap ipod plug-in or blindly sifting through scratched CD's while navigating holiday traffic, but how's this for a silver lining? Stephen Colbert reads his own book. Score! He could word-for-word recite Twilight to me like it'...more
got my advance copy and enjoying it already. jealous?
12 likes · like · see review
Book club selection for January 2013
Listened to this audio book because I love Stephen so much and thought it might be a hoot with him reading it. And it was very funny.... BUT I think I may check it out from the library to compare. And his reading speed was quite fast and sometimes I wanted to just slow it down slightly. But I enjoyed it. I could do without so much bad language, but imagining a Texas gun-totin' conservative, it's not hard to imagine that language.
His rant on the most popular dr...more
Listened to this audio book because I love Stephen so much and thought it might be a hoot with him reading it. And it was very funny.... BUT I think I may check it out from the library to compare. And his reading speed was quite fast and sometimes I wanted to just slow it down slightly. But I enjoyed it. I could do without so much bad language, but imagining a Texas gun-totin' conservative, it's not hard to imagine that language.
His rant on the most popular dr...more
Stephen Colbert’s persona—enthusiastic, jingoistic, crippled by narcissism—returns to print in a book that delivers a pitch-perfect rendition of the voice he and his writing team have perfected. Their experience shows in every line, every footnote, where the jokes are densely layered and alternately sardonic or silly, with an occasional detour into the surreal. My only complaint is that these strengths of the book ultimately tip over into its weakness. For if you’re already well acquainted with...more
AMERICA AGAIN
Stephen Colbert. Need I say more? Probably not, but I will anyway.
In AMERICA AGAIN: RE-BECOMING THE GREATNESS WE NEVER WEREN’T, Stephen Colbert explains, in ten chapters, why America is exceptional. He covers jobs, healthcare; Wall Street, energy, elections, justice, and food, then offers some easy solutions. The book also includes 3-D glasses which are useful for a full appreciation of the pictures at the beginning of each chapter.
In the Wall Street chapter, he explains the 2008 Wa...more
Stephen Colbert. Need I say more? Probably not, but I will anyway.
In AMERICA AGAIN: RE-BECOMING THE GREATNESS WE NEVER WEREN’T, Stephen Colbert explains, in ten chapters, why America is exceptional. He covers jobs, healthcare; Wall Street, energy, elections, justice, and food, then offers some easy solutions. The book also includes 3-D glasses which are useful for a full appreciation of the pictures at the beginning of each chapter.
In the Wall Street chapter, he explains the 2008 Wa...more
Jan 02, 2013
Jenny Maloney
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
academics,
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2013,
birds,
christmas,
adultery,
feminist,
ghosts,
first-of-series,
investigations,
my-kid-loved-it,
fantasy,
suicide,
serial-killers,
moral-dilemmas,
pirates,
hbo-series,
haunted-pasts,
satire,
poetry,
sex,
wwii,
cults,
middle-east,
informative,
sorta-read,
military,
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kerouac,
fragments,
beats,
napoleon,
native-american,
wodehouse,
middle-grade,
personal-pet-peeves,
mythology,
capital-punishment,
animals,
cricket,
ancient,
literary,
spies,
science-fiction,
paris,
flash-fiction,
newbery,
poison,
dystopian-futures,
crime,
time-travel,
fun,
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vietnam,
lit-ladies,
violence,
memoir,
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philosophy,
editing,
historical,
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magic,
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atwood,
suburbia,
short,
africa,
detectives,
wrenching,
writing,
government,
road-trip,
horror,
christie,
books-on-cd,
frustrating,
hawaii,
british,
romance,
movie-books,
biographical,
bomb,
circus,
art,
graphic-novel,
non-fiction,
gaiman,
science,
pilgrims,
angst,
humor,
medicine,
have-read,
irish,
strippers,
long,
mafia,
southern,
funny,
hilarious,
virus,
pulitzer,
corporations,
baseball
"If there's a better book than this, I haven't written it." ~Stephen Colbert, quoted on the back of American Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't
I think the first book review of the year should set the tone for the rest of the year. And what better way to start the year 2013 than reading and reviewing the book that has everything? In fact, it has so much of everything that I used every single one of my shelves to label it. I'm pretty sure that I'm still short a couple subjects.
Sure...more
I think the first book review of the year should set the tone for the rest of the year. And what better way to start the year 2013 than reading and reviewing the book that has everything? In fact, it has so much of everything that I used every single one of my shelves to label it. I'm pretty sure that I'm still short a couple subjects.
Sure...more
"Many a truth is spoken in jest." Stephen Colbert is a wonderful reminder of this truism. He has a very quick wit. He is a (generally) conservative political pundit who uses humor to examine people's positions and causes them to reevaluate their stands.
Obviously this book cannot be taken at face value, even when it features the face of Stephen Colbert. The book is, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. In other places it is embarrassing in the way it captures and highlights failings in our current cul...more
Obviously this book cannot be taken at face value, even when it features the face of Stephen Colbert. The book is, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. In other places it is embarrassing in the way it captures and highlights failings in our current cul...more
Writing his books—America Again is a follow-up to his previous I Am America and So Can You—clearly allows Stephen Colbert to indulge in slightly more surrealistic tangents than he can on his show. I recommend listening to this one in audiobook, because I think Colbert's voice and his bone-dry delivery really helps to sell some of those moments, which I think might otherwise read a little flat on the page. Some of the humour can be a little juvenile, but there are layers upon layers of quite sati...more
It is a surreal experience to read a book where literally every line comes dripping with sarcasm. It can easily wear on you, much like Colbert's previous book or even Jon Stewart's similar tomes tended to do. Still they make for a great read, especially when taken in in small segments, such as during a bathroom break for a quick #2 or a bathroom break for a lengthy #1. However, this edition seemed to read a bit more fluidly (sorry, I am typing this during a lengthy #1) and I found myself sitting...more
I don’t know how to feel about this book. I finished it a few days ago and I felt like it was more of a relief to finish it than any other emotion. Let me tell you my 5 month history with this book.
I ordered it in mid-December because it was on sale and my friend said it was a good book to read. I had been exposed to Stephen Colbert’s show a few weeks before so I took a chance. All of my books got delivered except this one and I didn’t notice until a month later. I called Barnes and Noble and th...more
I ordered it in mid-December because it was on sale and my friend said it was a good book to read. I had been exposed to Stephen Colbert’s show a few weeks before so I took a chance. All of my books got delivered except this one and I didn’t notice until a month later. I called Barnes and Noble and th...more
1 like · like · see review
I would love to write a review on this incredibly funny, and 100% Colbert-esque book, but in the Terms and Conditions that I had to agree to in the first few pages, I had to agree to not share this book or even think about it during sex to delay orgasm. And even to describe the book in an entertaining fashion was to be construed as a rebroadcast. In fact anything I write or create for 24 months after reading the book becomes the sole-property of Stephen Colbert because this book may linger with...more
5 likes · like · see review
At times this book is hilariously funny, but at other times it's a complete bore and I found myself reading for the sole purpose of finishing the book.
I enjoy Colbert's show, but, as with his last book, I feel as though the humor in this book is very "television" and doesn't translate well to a literary medium. It helps to just imagine Colbert giving a very long, extended monologue about current events (which I'm sure is the point). But the nature of Colbert/Daily Show humor is that it's so dependent on the 24 hour news cycle to provide new daily doses of current events that it's extremely effective in the moment but doesn't age well even a fe...more
I like Stephen Colbert. I find his humor to be less mean-spirited than his colleague/cohort Jon Stewart, and he seems to take himself so completely lightly that even if you disagree with his satirical points, you can smile at his jokes. I liked his book I Am America quite a bit.
That being said, this one fell flat. It was quite a bit nastier, with a lot of obscenity and vulgarity that didn't serve the jokes or make them stronger. Maybe it was just too much of a good thing, but a lot of the book s...more
That being said, this one fell flat. It was quite a bit nastier, with a lot of obscenity and vulgarity that didn't serve the jokes or make them stronger. Maybe it was just too much of a good thing, but a lot of the book s...more
I don’t remember the first book (I m America (and so can you) that well (I read it 4 years ago) but I do feel I enjoyed this one a lot more. I think it was a bit easier read – better flow – better editing – less like a long diatribe by Stephen and more change ups in tone and writing style. As far as a humour book goes this one was very humourous and didn’t get old half way through. The topic changes helped, as did the visuals, and they still had the footnotes but for whatever reason I enjoyed th...more
I absolutely LOVE Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Jon Stewart cuts through all the flak and crap and actually TELLS ME what's happening in the political arena, while Stephen Colbert basically tells me what's NOT happening -- see, whatever he says, you basically think he means the opposite: simple!
That being said, I was soooo ready to dive into this book.
I've read "I Am America (And So Can You!)" by him, so I was ready for something similar.
What I got was a meaner and raunchier sequel.
I haven't...more
That being said, I was soooo ready to dive into this book.
I've read "I Am America (And So Can You!)" by him, so I was ready for something similar.
What I got was a meaner and raunchier sequel.
I haven't...more
What a disappointment. And I didn't come in with high expectations, so it's really saying something for me to have been disappointed.
This book isn't funny. The moments that made me laugh were few and far between, significantly fewer than those in I Am America (And So Can You!). The writing is over-the-top. It's so excessive that it's totally unrealistic and unbelievable, and comes across as just plain dumb. Colbert is a smart, funny man, and can be a great satirist, but after awhile, it falls fl...more
This book isn't funny. The moments that made me laugh were few and far between, significantly fewer than those in I Am America (And So Can You!). The writing is over-the-top. It's so excessive that it's totally unrealistic and unbelievable, and comes across as just plain dumb. Colbert is a smart, funny man, and can be a great satirist, but after awhile, it falls fl...more
America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't is genius satire on highly important and current topics, just like it's predecessor, I Am America (And So Can You!).
Colbert tackles American institutions as healthcare, jobs, food, justice, elections, and more, supplemented with colorful photos, diagrams, and silly footnotes. His wry commentaries on these facets of American life and politics are sharply pointed, with each chapter coming to an ironic and often ridiculous conclusion. Someti...more
Colbert tackles American institutions as healthcare, jobs, food, justice, elections, and more, supplemented with colorful photos, diagrams, and silly footnotes. His wry commentaries on these facets of American life and politics are sharply pointed, with each chapter coming to an ironic and often ridiculous conclusion. Someti...more
A bit better than the previous one, but again, the main problem with this book, as with the previous one, is that Colbert just tries a bit too hard. At times, the joke just gets stretched a bit too far. Having said that, the book does have some funny moments, and when you get one, it's good. But there is a lot of filler along the way as well. In some ways, reading this is like looking over an episode or two of his show, which may be a good thing or not. I honestly wonder if listening to it as an...more
Pros: It was really entertaining. There were clever jokes mixed with factual info all throughout the book. "I AM DRUNK" is the funniest chapter. Also the part where he shows us what he thinks a Resume should look like is hilar. I absolutely could not stop laughing at it. Most of the illustrations and photos and such were pretty funny anyways. Plus the footnotes, which he admits in the book were clearly overused, were still funny nonetheless.
Cons: It's a bit dull though when he talks about the Fe...more
Cons: It's a bit dull though when he talks about the Fe...more
Armed with 3D glasses, America can reclaim its greatness through the wisdom of Rev. Sir Dr. Stephen T. Mos Def Colbert, D.F.A. The comedian discusses American Exceptionalism, the inherent greatness of the American way of life. Regardless of their consequences, Colbert reaffirms the established American traditions of jobs, healthcare, Wall Street, energy, elections, justice, and food. His arguments are embellished with hilarious images, graphs, testimonials and questionnaires.
Colbert uses his con...more
Colbert uses his con...more
This book is a mere shadow of I am America and So Can You and nothing but a collection of stale, left-over jokes that didn't make the cut for the show. A total disappointment. I've always felt like Colbert was gifted at keeping it fresh and original, but as of late he seems to have his act on a loop. This book is a bonafide rerun. It's only redeeming quality is the fact that it comes with old school 3-D glasses.
Ever since Romney lost the election I haven't been able to stomach Colbert. That el...more
Ever since Romney lost the election I haven't been able to stomach Colbert. That el...more
While this book had me giggling and obnoxiously telling family at Christmas what I was laughing at, I lost interest about halfway through. The writing style, while amusing, critiques American society to some extent but then leaves you mostly unfulfilled as it never quite drives the point home. I know, I know, it's satire; it's only meant to make you think! I simply felt that much of this book pointed out obvious flaws in American or other contemporary societies' rhetoric (immigrants bad! guns go...more
Colbert (and his writing staff, of course!) at his finest. Where I felt as if in his first book, they held back a bit, not certain if the full style would come across in written format, Colbert was in his full glory in this second book. The 3D glasses bit was a bit gimmicky, but that was the point, I imagine, and always giving a regular photo along with the 3D effect prevented it from becoming distracting.
It became obvious after a while that there is at least one Canadian on the writing staff, a...more
It became obvious after a while that there is at least one Canadian on the writing staff, a...more
I love Colbert more than I love Stewart. I think they are about equals as comedians, but Colbert is definitely a better actor.
The funniest line in the book to me was him playing a Canadian character. I'm probably racist against Canadians. "I haven't apologized in a while. Sorry!" That was a stop the CD and pull the car over moment for me.
His takes on health care, energy policy, legal system (order, law, and storage) were all insanely funny to me. The ending was a little on the lame side, includi...more
The funniest line in the book to me was him playing a Canadian character. I'm probably racist against Canadians. "I haven't apologized in a while. Sorry!" That was a stop the CD and pull the car over moment for me.
His takes on health care, energy policy, legal system (order, law, and storage) were all insanely funny to me. The ending was a little on the lame side, includi...more
If you like "The Colbert Report" and the sensation of turning pages with your fingers, you'll like "America Again," because that's basically what it is: a papery Stephen Colbert. I happen to like those things, so I like this book.
The visual and verbal humor are as strong as one might expect from the "Colbert Report" writing staff, and a book allows some opportunities for humor that aren't available on TV, though if you're a regular watcher of the show you'll recognize a number of topics he's alr...more
The visual and verbal humor are as strong as one might expect from the "Colbert Report" writing staff, and a book allows some opportunities for humor that aren't available on TV, though if you're a regular watcher of the show you'll recognize a number of topics he's alr...more
There's a very easy test to know whether you will like this book: do you like Stephen Colbert's TV show? If so, you can safely grab this book and know you'll probably have an easy, amusing, sometimes laugh-out-loud experience.
On the positive side, it was a consistently amusing read that has enough variation within the chapters to keep any kind of reader interested. There are 3D images (new copies of the book come packaged with glasses, I never used them), infographics, and extended jokes in the...more
On the positive side, it was a consistently amusing read that has enough variation within the chapters to keep any kind of reader interested. There are 3D images (new copies of the book come packaged with glasses, I never used them), infographics, and extended jokes in the...more
Certainly any fan of the The Colbert Report is going to enjoy this book, a zany extension of the television show. But will it be funny to those who don't watch the program? I suppose that depends on how much the reader is comfortable with satire. More and more people seem to take everything literally (thank you arts cutting jerks and literature killing legislators!), so I can't be sure.
I can say that I thought the book was very funny. Perhaps not as hilarious as the show, but funny nonetheless....more
I can say that I thought the book was very funny. Perhaps not as hilarious as the show, but funny nonetheless....more
I'm a huge fan of Colbert. I will gladly watch his show and even chant "COLBERT COLBERT COLBERT" And I liked this book, I did. It's terribly amusing. It's incredibly hilarious. There is many a funny one-liner, after one-liner, after one-liner.........after one-liner. And that's where my problem lies. Without a story or characters, no matter how funny the one-liners are it becomes very difficult to read a book of one-liners. If you are interested in this I would HIGHLY suggest the audio book inst...more
1 like · like · see review
I've never been a huge Colbert fan, only have seen his show a handful of times. This was a quick, fun read though. A few lines made me stop dead in my tracks and appreciate just how damn clever they were. You won't find anything all that insightful that you didn't already know about America, and everything comes through the Colbert filter that makes even the most BS claim seem potentially plausible. Nothing here blew me away but I may go back and check out some of Colbert's other written materia...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Mages and Pages: Too funny | 1 | 6 | Dec 05, 2012 04:11pm |
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American comedian, satirist, actor, and writer known for his ironic style, particularly in his portrayal of uninformed opinion leaders and deadpan comedic delivery.
Colbert originally studied to be an actor, but became interested in improvisational theater when he met famed Second City director Del Close while attending Northwestern University. He first performed profes...more
More about Stephen Colbert...
Colbert originally studied to be an actor, but became interested in improvisational theater when he met famed Second City director Del Close while attending Northwestern University. He first performed profes...more
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“That’s why our TVs are brimming with so much hot man-on-pan action. You can’t channel surf for long without seeing turkey getting stuffed over and over until they finally cut to the gravy shot.”
—
4 people liked it
“Throughout human history, countries rise and fall. But not America--we continue to rise and rise, like dough, until Jesus bakes us in the fiery Afterscape of the Rapture.”
—
1 person liked it
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Dec 31, 2012 12:32am
Jan 03, 2013 10:27pm