I Am America: And So Can You!

by Stephen Colbert

book data

8,196 ratings, 3.84 average rating, 1,752 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		28%
4		37%
3		25%
2		6%
1		1%

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published

October 9th 2007 by Warner Books

binding

Hardcover, 250 pages

isbn

0446580503 (isbn13: 9780446580502)

description

From Stephen Colbert, the host of television's highest-rated punditry show The Colbert Report, comes the book to fill the other 23.5 hours of your day...more

[close] From Stephen Colbert, the host of television's highest-rated punditry show The Colbert Report, comes the book to fill the other 23.5 hours of your day. I Am America (And So Can You!) contains all of the opinions that Stephen doesn't have time to shoehorn into his nightly broadcast.

Dictated directly into a microcassette recorder over a three-day weekend, this book contains Stephen's most deeply held knee-jerk beliefs on The American Family, Race, Religion, Sex, Sports, and many more topics, conveniently arranged in chapter form.

Always controversial and outspoken, Stephen addresses why Hollywood is destroying America by inches, why evolution is a fraud, and why the elderly should be harnessed to millstones.

You may not agree with everything Stephen says, but at the very least, you'll understand that your differing opinion is wrong.

I Am America (And So Can You!) showcases Stephen Colbert at his most eloquent and impassioned. He is an unrelenting fighter for the soul of America, and in this book he fights the good fight for the traditional values that have served this country so well for so long.

From Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. Realizing that it takes more than thirty minutes a night to fix everything that's destroying America, Colbert bravely takes on the forces aligned to destroy our country—whether they be terrorists, environmentalists, or Kashi brand breakfast cereals. His various targets include nature (I've never trusted the sea. What's it hiding under there?), the Hollywood Blacklist (I would have named enough names to fill the Moscow phone book), and atheists (Imagine going through life completely duped into thinking that there's no invisible, omniscient higher power guiding every action on Earth. It's just so arbitrary!). Colbert also provides helpful illustrations and charts (Things That Are Trying to Turn Me Gay) [and] a complete transcript of his infamous speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner [...] all of which add up to a book that is sure to be a bestseller and match the success of Colbert's former Daily Show boss Jon Stewart's America (The Book). (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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09/27/07

Nathan rated it:

bookshelves: biography, humor, pop-culture

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: South Carolinians

Most Americans are familiar with Stephen Colbert and his viciously partisan antics. He makes Ann Coulter, that hateful, Republican attack-hermaphrodite, look like a kindly grandmother. More recently, this lifelong right-winger attempted to subvert and sabotage both the democratic process and the Democratic Party by running as a Democrat for president in the state of South Carolina. Colbert has proven himself, time and again, to be a self-satisfied stooge less concerned with reality than with his...more Most Americans are familiar with Stephen Colbert and his viciously partisan antics. He makes Ann Coulter, that hateful, Republican attack-hermaphrodite, look like a kindly grandmother. More recently, this lifelong right-winger attempted to subvert and sabotage both the democratic process and the Democratic Party by running as a Democrat for president in the state of South Carolina. Colbert has proven himself, time and again, to be a self-satisfied stooge less concerned with reality than with his ratings and status amongst the Republican elite. His "logic" extends to asking such unanswerable non-questions as "Don't you want to win the war on terror?" He sees the world in black and white, with no shades of color or gray, and he expects the world to answer to his limited understanding of it. In I Am America (And So Can You), Colbert attempts to translate the uniquely twisted logic of his TV rants into a book of socio-political commentary. That he should write a book is shocking, if for no other reason than its hard to imagine he even reads them. (First sentence of the book: "I'm no fan of books.") From the start, his ego is the boat with his partisan agenda at the helm. The introduction is more like an instruction list, guiding the reader in how to "read" the book. (Don't highlight anything; it comes with Colbert approved stickers to notate moments of utter worship.) He then proceeds to lecture about the family. As one can expect from the admitted sexist, Colbert's view of the family is right out of the 1850s. As with any political tome, one eventually stumbles upon moments of seeming coherence amid all the partisan stupidity. Colbert may be absolutely correct in his suggestions for dealing with the elderly, and whether one agrees with the end result or not, he does issue the most coherent argument yet provided by the right on why homosexuality is dangerous. Most times, however, Colbert veers toward hysteria. He attempts to make the absurd case that God loves America more than he loves anyone else, and proves it by covering God's involvement in America's foreign wars. He also pushes an agenda of views that could only come from Colbert's deep involvement with the American quack right: abstinence, anti-abortion, the homosexual recruitment agenda (he even gives page space to a testimonial from a religiously "reformed" homosexual), and the long-held Christian Conservative view that bears are a vehicle for demons. And of course Colbert misses the irony in his hateful ridicule of actors who promote "liberal" causes. He viciously attacks Sean Penn, Tim Robins and Barbra Streisand without even acknowledging that he, with his TV show, brewing publishing empire and Republican connections, is absolutely no different from the celebrity activists he attacks. Overall, a loosely held-together quilt of facts taken out of context, Republican talking points, opinion packaged as news and prejudicial ignorance. And it's not even written very well. Colbert makes up for what he lacks in literacy by inventing whole new words. The result is both accidentally hilarious and utterly confusing, but certainly not literary or substantive. One need go no further than the title to learn that Stephen Colbert is someone who talks first, and thinks later. Expect his show to move to the FOX Network very soon, and expect many, many more books like this.

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01/29/08

Stuart rated it:

bookshelves: humor

Read in February, 2008

Rachel and I were in the audience for the Colbert Report a week before the writers went on strike. I highly recommend seeing it live! Before the show Stephen takes questions from the audience. Rachel's question was "what are you reading right now?" Stephen said "A Jesuit of Broadway". Rachel asked "what is it about?" Stephen said "it's about a Jesuit on Broadway". Stephen then asked Rachel "what are you reading?" Rachel stammered "uh...more

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05/18/08

Steven rated it:

bookshelves: addiction

Read in May, 2008

Full disclosure, I am a huge fan of “The Colbert Report.” If I am awake at 11:30 p.m., I have to watch the show. Upon its first few viewings I thought that I might not like it as much as “The Daily Show,” but after a little bit of time in warming up to the character of Stephen Colbert, I quite frankly think that “Colbert Report” is in many ways the much funnier show.

Much to Mr. Colbert’s dismay, I checked this book out from the library and was unable to avail myself...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

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02/28/08

Tracy rated it:

bookshelves: read-and-liked-it

Read in December, 2007

recommended to Tracy by: Stephen Colbert
recommends it for: everyone

I suspect that Stephen Colbert, the relentlessly egotistical headlining author of I Am America (And So Can You!), would protest if you called his book funny, but it most definitely is funny. In his mind, however, the book is an indispensable work of truth and advice about how to navigate your life. In the directions for how to read the book, Colbert mentions that his book can be used to swear in people about to give testimony in the extraordinary absence of the Bible. This sums up the esteem wit...more I suspect that Stephen Colbert, the relentlessly egotistical headlining author of I Am America (And So Can You!), would protest if you called his book funny, but it most definitely is funny. In his mind, however, the book is an indispensable work of truth and advice about how to navigate your life. In the directions for how to read the book, Colbert mentions that his book can be used to swear in people about to give testimony in the extraordinary absence of the Bible. This sums up the esteem with which this work should be regarded, according to the author.

I Am America (And So Can You!) opens with Colbert’s declaration that he does not like books. He also hopes that his readers have not read any books before, presumably so that their minds will be pure and therefore most receptive to his truth.

The 230-page hardcover goes on to reveal Colbert’s wise opinions about such topics as the family, religion, sex and dating, higher education, the media, and science. In each chapter a multi-layered satire of right wing conservative values and points of view are presented in cleverly hysterical detail. The chapter titles easily decant the savory flavor of the book’s humor. (Please don’t add water!) For example the chapter about Sports is called “When It’s Okay to Shower With Men” and the chapter on Class War is named “Let Them Buy Cake For A Change.”

In addition to the American-as-apple-pie insight imparted by no less than 14 writers, I Am American (And So Can You!) is so fundamentally funny that the actual design of the book often made me laugh. The photography is truly brilliant, both in composition and the acting skill of the subject. Colbert’s distinctive facial expressions and flair for wholesomeness combined wonderfully with a variety of props ranging from a bouquet of flowers to dog poop. My personal favorite is the photograph of Colbert in front of Applebees, where he presumably became disillusioned with life. (I understand). Another nice touch with the book design are the red-dyed edges of the pages, so as to advertise its Biblical quality.

I recommend this book to people who do not read books and like to be told how to think by a male authority figure. Studies indicate this would be a large audience, which accounts for the best-selling success of this book.
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10/09/07

Mattomic rated it:

Thanks to MY secret librarian powers, I didn't get my hands on this before it was released, but I did get it before anyone else had the chance to check it out. My rating is premature and probably too generous, and it reflects my near-blind devotion to anything and everything Colbertian. That being said, from the bits and pieces I've read, it's utterly hilarious. Sure, there's a little something missing when you read his word (I have to imagine Colbert reading it in his unmistakable vocal style);...more

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01/24/08

Dwight rated it:

Read in December, 2007

My loving life partner & soul mate gave me this for Christmas. Perhaps she's hoping that it might rub off a bit and I might attain the same kind of twinkle in my eye that Stephen Colbert has. Alas, unlikely.

I had to give a presentation to a room full of local union leaders last weekend in Austin TX. These are mostly elected leaders of teacher union locals. So activist by nature. But all from western states, so you don't know exactly what to expect. I used a take-off on the title of t...more

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12/29/07

Jeff rated it:

It's always an experiment when a comedian with no literary history writes (or collaborates to write) a book. Everyone knows that the 80/20 rule even applies to humor: 20% is the joke and 80% is the timing or delivery. With someone like Stephen Colbert - who I have endless respect for after delivering his famous White House Correspondents Dinner speech, which is wisely reprinted in this book - whose humor is predicated on physical, visual humor, it can be quite precarious treading into the waters...more

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09/28/07

treehugger rated it:

(review of isbn 1600240364)

bookshelves: audiobooks

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: not really anyone, even if you love Colbert....just a lame-o book in general!

Ok, so I was totally let down by this book, and I can't remember the last time I just wished the author who was reading the book to me on my commute would just SHUT THE HELL UP. I wasn't expecting that, being as how I'm a huge Jon Stewart fan, have loved the books of his I have read, and like the Colbert Report (although since I haven't had cable for years, I only see it sporadically while housesitting for other, more affluent individuals :)).

Anyway, it had no coherent plot, made ...more

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01/20/08

Colleen rated it:

Read in June, 2008

There were a number of times in this book I was laughing out loud, not just a little chuckle, but a full belly laugh. I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who is P.C. sensitive (mom!) or you might just have a stroke before you get to chapter three; and maybe not for the uber-conservative, but even the moderate conservative thinker might find this amusing considering the state of politics today. If you like a good political farce, you are in for a good laugh. A warning on some of the lang...more

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8 comments

09/24/08

Tara rated it:

bookshelves: 2008, humour, own

Read in September, 2008

This is certainly not a literary masterpiece, but it is a good book to have beside the bed. I liked to read a few pages before going to sleep as it was the perfect non-committal, good for a chuckle book.

I also like that Colbert's speech to the White House Correspondents Dinner was included at the end of the book. That was a great speech and proved that Colbert's got big ones!

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

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03/24/08

Griffin rated it:

bookshelves: read---fiction

First, I want to thank Mr. Colbert for saving me from a dim and meaningless life as a book-reading, thought-having, liberal. "I AM AMERICA (And So Can You)" showed me the light (not that I'm a fan of The Enlightenment) and released me from my prison of 'reality' and 'facts.'

Even better, Mr. Colbert taught me that books are useless objects that only make you think. Think of all the money I'll save now that I can stop reading! (Note to Amazon: Maybe you shouldn't carry this b...more

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01/19/08

Philitsa rated it:

This book took me forever to read. Imagine 240 pages of The Colbert Report's "The Word" segment. There's a reason why it's only a minute or so long -- that's only as much as a sane person can digest at a time.

Now, I don't want imply that I didn't enjoy reading the book. I just had to do it in very... small... doses. Otherwise, I'd get frustrated and want to claw my eyes out. That's all.

There were a few pages that made me chortle, but it took me so long to...more

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12/05/07

The Millman rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: Anyone who watches the Colbert Report.

This book is funny. Just by reading the title and the back cover (which incidentally only had about 15 words on it) I knew that this book would be funny. And it is, but it's not much else. The character that Colbert plays on his show (intensely-conservative-right-wing-republican) is not actually him. It's almost like this alter ego he has created. In real life, Colbert is a left-wing-liberal. But on his show, he's completely the opposite. So being a regular watcher of his show, and knowing what...more

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10/12/07

Joseph rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Patriots and Colbert-lovers

Don't get me wrong; this is a good book. It's a hoot. It's a lot of fun. It's ... exactly the book you think it is. If you've seen The Colbert Report, you're not going to find any new material. Stripped of current events, Colbert is forced to just play up all the generic jokes he uses all the time on his show. He hates facts and books and scientists and Hollywood. He loves the President and Bill O'Reilly and Catholicism and FoxNews. But there's not a lot that's particularly fresh. He ev...more

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10/11/07

Amy rated it:

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who watches The Colbert Report

I absolutely love The Colbert Report and refuse to miss an episode. There were a few very funny sections in the book. His pompous sarcastic masquerading as a far-right Catholic republican is always funny, and I enjoy his ability to elevate himself to God-like status and make fun of himself at the same time. However, the wittiness he does so well on his show has its limits in book form, and his "shouting" tone does get old after a while. He tried to create the mood of The Word by in...more

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12/07/07

Angel rated it:

bookshelves: humor

Read in December, 2007

I have been looking forward to reading this for a while. Our library finally got the new bestsellers collection processed, so I have checked it out. I just started it.

* * * *

Actually, the book is a bit disappointing. It has its funny moments, but there is a lot of fluff in between the funny parts. It does capture the tone of any pundit book out there, and that may actually work against it as well; pundit books suffer from the problem of just going on too long to make the...more

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02/09/08

Derrith rated it:

Read in June, 2008

Not sure why it took me so long to finish this book. I would pick it up, read a bit, put it down and move on to something else. Maybe it's like when you save your Halloween candy and your siblings (who scarfed theirs before their costumes even came off) are jealous when you still have a Snickers fun size with your lunch well into December.
Now that I'm done, and my sides ache from laughing, I'm glad I doled it out to myself in small doses. It was less about savoring and more about the f...more

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04/19/08

Graceann rated it:

bookshelves: humor

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: All fans of humor/Colbert

Please see my detailed review at Amazon.com Grace's "Stephen Colbert" Review

Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb! Seriously, I'm getting a complex. :-) Thanks!

Stephen Colbert is hilarious, as I expected him to be, and there was never any doubt that I would be buying this book. I usually pass books along when I'm done reading them, and there's plenty of demand for this one, but I'm not giving it up for ...more

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12/31/07

piraterie rated it:

bookshelves: read2007, satire

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: truthiness seekers

I'm probably being a bit generous with my rating; my mad Colbert love compels me to add probably a star more than this actually deserves. There's nothing new here, after all; it's what you see on the show, minus most references to current events. It's exactly what you'd expect from the "Stephen Colbert" character. But it is funny, and I like the Fun Zones and charts and stickers and pictures. And I appreciated the inclusion of the transcript of the 2006 White House Correspondents' ...more

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01/29/08

Jack rated it:

Read in February, 2008

Hilariously funny. Obviously, this isn't the kind of book to read if you're looking for a deep, thought provoking political analysis of modern America-- it's the kind of book to provoke hysteric contractions of your vocal chords and occasionally a rightist joke.

The only thing about this book is that the whole work is satire of the right-wing of politics. And if you don't know Stephen Colbert's style, you'll probably think he's a serious nutjob with the self-absorbency of a 3m sponge ...more

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