Dig this: The folks at the Daily Show are releasing a Civics textbook

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http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0446532681-0

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/imageDB.cgi?isbn=0446532681

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (the Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
by Jon Stewart

Synopsis:
Jon Stewart and the writing staff from the Emmy-winning "Daily Show" offer their insights into America's unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and investigating such popular urban myths as "one man, one vote" and "every vote counts."
[...]
Book Description
Jon Stewart, host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show, and his coterie of patriots, deliver a hilariouslook at American government.
American-style democracy is the world's most beloved form of government, which explains why so many other nations are eager for us to impose it on them. But what is American democracy? In AMERICA (THE BOOK), Jon Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff offer their insights into our unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and exploring the reasons why concepts like one man, one vote, government by the people, and every vote counts have become such popular urban myths. Topics include: Ancient Rome: The First Republicans; The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted, and White; The Media: Can it Be Stopped?; and more!

a close-up of the cover

Amazon's entry on it

"With a Foreword by Thomas Jefferson

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Saturday, 11 September 2004 01:51 (twenty-one years ago)

This goes on sale on Sept 20th. I wonder how much they had to rush to get it out in time.

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Saturday, 11 September 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I assume the bit recently in The New Yorker that was credited to "Jon Stewart and the Writers of the Daily Show" is from this book.

― El Rock de Hardio, Saturday, 11 September 2004 02:09 (twenty-one years ago)

which bit?

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Saturday, 11 September 2004 02:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder how much they had to rush to get it out in time.

Yeah, because they've only had four years to prepare it.

But seriously, Stewart was talking about the book on the show a few months ago.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Saturday, 11 September 2004 02:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Kingfish, it was in the August 30 issue (Barry Blitt cover of Cheney getting his blood pressure checked). It was a grid called "What Government Best Suits You?" with types of governments across the top and stuff down the left like "how you feel about taxes" and "what you're most likely to have for lunch." I remember "gravel sausage" being one of the answers to that one. The New Yorker doesn't have a search function, but I seem to recall being able to navigate to recent archived articles, so I guess it's a matter of figuring out their naming/dating convention for URLs.

It wasn't the most hysterically funny thing I've ever read, but it was a handful of laffs.

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 11 September 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder if the MP3 version is the full text, or how much is missing .. because it's available now at half the price of the book ...

― dave225 (Dave225), Saturday, 11 September 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

The audio book is abridged, apparently. I downloaded that. It can't be a patch on the book, which has loads of pictures and diagrams that'd only work in print.

I got the book from Amazon this morning. It's huge, literally like a text book, with pull-out posters and stuff. I thought it'd be a little paperback thing.

I am really looking forward to reading this on my daily commute.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Saturday, 18 September 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

i got the audio book tonight. FUCKIN' GREAT, and Stephen Colbert shows up here & there for the funneys.

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 04:58 (twenty-one years ago)

fun free bits at http://www.americathebook.com

― Lt. Kingfish Del Pickles (Kingfish), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

aaaaaaand now another one

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Qf2TGhHcL.jpg

http://earththewebsite.com/

― Jaw dropping, thong dropping monster (kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:17 (fifteen years ago)

6 years pass...

oh jeez, do they ever

― Jaw dropping, thong dropping monster (kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:17 (fifteen years ago)

Have you read it, kingfish? I put it on hold at the library and apparently I'm 11th in line now.

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:19 (fifteen years ago)

It really doesn't seem like America: The Book was six years ago, but I guess so. Huh.

I've still never even thumbed through it.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:21 (fifteen years ago)

Oh that's nice to hear.

― I've got ten bucks. SURPRISE ME. (Laurel), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:31 (fifteen years ago)

Not yet. I have the audiobook, but haven't listened.

― Jaw dropping, thong dropping monster (kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:36 (fifteen years ago)

lol @ myself. I just realized that I have two torrents coming in right now. One is the audiobook of Earth, and the other is Planet of the Apes.

― kenan, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:45 (fifteen years ago)

These books have so many visual gags that I don't get why anyone would choose the audiobook form.

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:46 (fifteen years ago)

They're different. The audiobook of "I Am America and So Can You" is preferable to the print version, actually. It's not just people reading you the book.

― kenan, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:49 (fifteen years ago)

For one thing, the audiobook of Earth features Sigourney Weaver as a narrator.

― kenan, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:56 (fifteen years ago)

It's just all my favorite jokes in "America the Book" were graphs, charts, multiple choice quizzes, and comic strips, none of which really translate to mp3.

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:58 (fifteen years ago)

Also I just hate audiobooks in general so that's another bias of mine that is pertinent to this discussion.

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:58 (fifteen years ago)

xp Well, no. But they do try to make up for it.

― kenan, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 17:59 (fifteen years ago)

The audiobooks also have the cast members reading them. The first one had Stewart, Colbert, Bee, Cordry, etc

This one has this listing at Audible:

# The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race
# UNABRIDGED
# by Jon Stewart
# Narrated by Jon Stewart , Samantha Bee , Wyatt Cenac , Jason Jones , John Oliver

― Jaw dropping, thong dropping monster (kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 18:15 (fifteen years ago)

Also, the audiobooks arent replacements so much as accompaniment.

― Jaw dropping, thong dropping monster (kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2010 18:15 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah surely books like these are made to be physical objects, more than most, even.

― kenan, Tuesday, 5 October 2010 18:23 (fifteen years ago)

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