Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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"My book isn't a monologue," Stephen Colbert writes. "It's a dialogue - a dialogue between me and my opinions, and you've been welcome to eavesdrop on us."
This is the most unusual book I've read in years, unusual in its content and its format. It's a big hardback book with red edged pages and a book mark built right in like a Bible. It's got a page of stickers that say things like "How True!" and "Show to Wife!" It's filled with red lettering quotes pre-printed in the margins and strange graphs. It feels out of control and hysterical and smart and offensive, just like Colbert's show. It makes such delicious fun of all of the TV show commentators who write books telling us how to think and take themselves quite seriously.
Here's how he describes his book: "This is me off the cuff. Blunt and in your face. No editing. I think it. I say it. You read it. Sometimes I don't even think it, I just say it. Baby carrots are trying to turn me gay. See? I'm not pulling any punches." Or here's another one: "Generally speaking, I'm not a big fan of sports. It's a waste of both testosterone and blind, fervent allegiance, both of which would be better directed towards our military."
My main criticism of the book is that sometimes the humor gets a little lost in translation. Colbert even admits that himself when he writes, "That was a joke, in case you couldn't tell. I don't blame you if you couldn't. Can't tell if someone's making a joke if you can't see that person's face. Big reason I don't like books. No faces." I give a qualified thumbs' up to Stephen Colbert's bestseller I Am America (And So Can You!).
