The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race [Hardcover]

Jon Stewart (Editor), David Javerbaum (Editor), Rory Albanese (Editor), Steve Bodow (Editor), Josh Lieb (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: September 21, 2010

The eagerly awaited new book from the Emmy-winning, Oscar-hosting, Daily Show-anchoring Jon Stewart--the man behind the megaseller America (The Book).

Where do we come from? Who created us? Why are we here? These questions have puzzled us since the dawn of time, but when it became apparent to Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show that the world was about to end, they embarked on a massive mission to write a book that summed up the human race: What we looked like; what we accomplished; our achievements in society, government, religion, science and culture -- all in a tome of approximately 256 pages with lots of color photos, graphs and charts.

After two weeks of hard work, they had their book. Earth (The Book) is the definitive guide to our species. With their trademark wit, irreverence, and intelligence, Stewart and his team will posthumously answer all of life's most hard-hitting questions, completely unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity, or even accuracy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Eight-time Emmy-winner Stewart (America: The Book) seeks to expand his audience to aliens who might land on earth after the extinction of the human race and be puzzled over the artifacts we've left behind. "Greetings... on behalf of not only ourselves, but the entire Viacom family," he writes in this laugh-out-loud, rollicking social satire. In place of skits there are elaborate, color illustrations accompanied by captions written with his trademark deadpan humor; for instance, a photo of a mother and baby-elephant holds the caption, "advances in contraception and industrialized food production allowed modern couples to have fewer offspring, while leaving the total weight of families constant." Nothing is off-limits here, not even Benjamin Franklin, whose pithy saying "Nothing is certain but death and taxes" Stewart expands upon. The book ends with a plea to the aliens to reconstruct the human race from DNA in the hope that, with guidance from the visitors, "we could overcome the baser aspects of our nature... and give this planet the kind of caretakers it deserves," revealing the tears behind Stewart's clown. Photos.

From Booklist

First America (The Book), and now, six years later, Earth. Yes, once again fearless anchor and ringleader Jon Stewart and his gang of snark-attack writers at The Daily Show bring barbed, laser-guided intelligence camouflaged with gleeful vulgarity to the page, this time to tell the story of Earth from its gritty beginnings as an unwieldy whirl of gasses and dust to its coalescence into a “fertile oasis of sophisticated life in the endless barren expanse of the universe (no offense).” Why “no offense”? Because this guide to Earth and human civilization, from the Parthenon to reality TV, is addressed to the aliens who will arrive in the wake of humankind’s looming self-destruction. In the hope of being remembered, and, perhaps, replicated, the wily and irreverent Daily Show crew marshal arrays of small images spiked with sight gags and accompanied by vinegary little captions to chronicle humankind’s rampant inventiveness and deadly inanity. Patches of actual science, albeit laced with such silly business as a recipe for Primordial Soup, give way to comedic takes on everything from adolescence to Larry King, our obsession with skin color, love (which has inspired poetry and restraining orders), celebrities, religion, advertising, and war. Funny on levels high and low, this rambunctious chronicle of the defeat of reason is a topsy-turvy tribute to a planet of “singular beauty” and its problem children. --Donna Seaman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (September 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044657922X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446579223
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (242 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Political
  • #79 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Parodies

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

217 of 258 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The anti-coffee table book September 22, 2010

By J. Harvey

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you've read or heard about America (The Book), know first that this book is fairly different. America (The Book) makes itself out to be a mock textbook, and has many long, hilarious text passages that skewer politics and education at the same time. However, there are also the occasional pages that are infographics, with jokes both in the images and the captions, that take up complete pages.

Now imagine that the entire book were made out of these commented infographics, with the subject matter shifted from the USA to the entire planet, and aimed at an audience of aliens who find the Earth deserted after the human race spectacularly manufactures its own demise, and you have Earth (The Book).

If you haven't read America (The Book) - and if not, what are you waiting for? You can grab the paperback for less than $10 here on Amazon - just think of this as the anti-coffee table book. It's a tome that delightfully destroys all aspects of society, from our perceptions of aliens to the planet itself to commerce, religion and culture. It can be picked up occasionally and flipped to a random page, as each joke is encapsulated and confined. Or, it can be read large sections at a time, with every word and picture perused until you can laugh no more. There is at least one brilliant joke per page, and quite often more than that.

This book pokes fun at anything and everything, and you may find the finger pointing at yourself now and again. If you can't laugh at your own idiosyncrasies and beliefs, skip this book and recommend it to someone with a sense of humor. If you can't take a joke, this book isn't for you.

The only down side, one that America (The Book) has less of a problem with, is that some of the jokes can't stand the test of time in the long term. In 50 years, the numerous pop culture references throughout the book will be largely forgotten, lost to the winds of time. It's better that way, of course, as their shallowness is a significant reason why this book makes fun of them. So perhaps this won't be one of the great literary classics, discussed and venerated for all time, but there's certainly enough timeless humor in here for it to be funny at least as long as you'll be alive. Get it now, and leave it in a conspicuous place when you're not reading it (the coffee table, perhaps?), so that when we do destroy ourselves, the aliens can see this message.

Hopefully, they'll get the joke.

80 of 98 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars OK bathroom read October 19, 2010

By R. Haddix

Format:Hardcover

First off I'm a huge fan of The Daily Show. I even went to see a taping last year when I was visiting NYC. Anyway they've really been pushing this book hard on the show so I decided to pick up a copy. I didn't really know what to expect from it, but I did expect a little more content then there really was. This "book" is mostly just a collection of pictures with funny little captions/blurbs next to them. It kept me mildly entertained in the bathroom a few minutes at a time, but is not something I would have sat down and read straight through.

What really baffles me though is how they could possibly have turned this into an audio book. Like I said it's mostly pictures, how they translated that to an audio book is beyond me.

Anyway it's OK for a fan of the show looking for something light to read in the bathroom, but you're unlikely to be entertained enough by it read it in more then 10-15 minute stints.

129 of 164 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun! September 21, 2010

By George Acosta

Format:Hardcover

Very funny and informative, if you like Jon Stewart you will enjoy the book. As with most material that touches on evolution, it will likely make creationists uncomfortable. A sense of humor is required. Enjoy!