Educating the Public with America (The Book)
Stewart and his Daily Show cohorts took their satire to the reading masses with America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction in 2004. Thomas Jefferson, despite being dead for nearly 200 years, penned the foreword, offering his unique perspective on the founding fathers and their intentions. ("I had slaves. Damn, I can't believe I had slaves.") The parody of a high school textbook — complete with classroom activities and discussion questions — was Publishers Weekly's Book of the Year. A curious citizen could learn about "The President: King of Democracy" as well as "why your vote counts, but not nearly as much as your money." Tom Carson, reviewing the book in the New York Times, wrote it was "not only more informative about how American government and culture work than the textbooks it burlesques, but gives us a keener sense of having a stake in both." Oh, and it also features naked Supreme Court Justices. Chapter 9 deals with "The Rest of the World," and earlier this year, Stewart and company released America's logical, more expansive follow-up: Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race.