I saw this book at my professor’s house while birdsitting and read the first chapter, figuring that I would finish it when I go home in a week. Then I remembered that we seem to be missing our copy. I wish my dad would stop loaning books out and then forgetting to whom he loaned them…

I liked America: The Book, but this review is much harsher than the rating I gave it would indicate. I just didn’t think that it was the book everyone was making it out to be a few years ago. I mean, sure America: The Book was funny, but not a “must-read”. It might be because I read it three years after it came out, or because I’m Canadian and it’s not hitting as close to home, but I sometimes found the satire falling flat. The book’s laid out like a textbook, fair enough, but the design can lead to some awkward reading, and the political jokes amuse but aren’t as funny as just watching The Daily Show. The funniest parts weren’t those that made fun of democracy or the American government, but those that made fun of high school textbooks (Question for class discussion: “Would you rather be a king or a slave? Why or why not?”). Overall, Stewart and company put together a collection of gags that makes for great reading in short bursts, but the joke starts to wear thin after two or three chapters in a row. It’s a good enough read, just not great.