Naked Pictures of Famous People (Paperback)

~ (Author) "DURING THE SPRING of 1935 I had the good fortune of making as my close acquintance none other than John F. (Jack) Kennedy..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bill Gates, The President, Taco Bell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sometimes it seems like every standup comedian worth his or her salt just has to do the book thing, and you might feel that yet another warmed-over stage routine is the last thing you need taking up valuable bookshelf space. Jon Stewart's book will come as an extremely pleasant surprise. He eschews the standard standup patter and instead gives us 18 short comic essays in a variety of styles that recall the prose work of Woody Allen, only with a few more references to genitals. Stewart proves himself a remarkably nimble humorist with a sharp eye for parody, whether he's writing "A Very Hanson Christmas" or "Adolf Hitler: The Larry King Interview."

HITLER: ...Larry, look, I was a bad guy. No question. I hate that Hitler. The yelling, the finger pointing, I don't know ... I was a very angry guy.

KING: And this ... new Hitler?

HITLER: I get up at seven, have half a melon, do the jumble in the morning paper and then let the day take me where it will.... Me!! The inventor of the Blitzkrieg... When you stop having to control everything it's very freeing.

Stewart is not afraid to flirt with bad taste, in fact, some of the pieces in this collection do for "flirting with bad taste" what Bill Clinton did for "not having sexual relations." But it's wonderful to see an edgy comedian taking on the traditionally cozy genre of the humorous essay, creating work that combines the wit of Robert Benchley with the energy and attitude of the best modern standup. Naked Pictures of Famous People proves that Jon Stewart is as comfortable, and accomplished, in front of a word processor as he is in front of an audience. --Simon Leake --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Brutally witty... On a par with Woody Allen's Without Feathers and Steve Martin's Cruel Shoes..." -- Entertainment Weekly

"Terrific night table reading for lovers of intelligent satire... smart... refreshingly offensive... unapologetically un-PC... a gift for just about anyone." -- Austin Chronicle

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (September 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688171621
• ISBN-13: 978-0688171629
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gerald Ford would be proud., September 14, 2002

By	"elpfan09" (Burke, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews

Being in college, I spend a good portion of my day watching TV. One highlight has always been "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." As a result, I picked up this book. This might actually be the first book that I have wanted to read since the Horton series. And this is well worth the wait.
Stewart lets loose in this book, writing about 20 essays that start (mostly) in reality and end up somewhere around Oz. Most essays involve the twisted private lives of famous people, hence the title. These include Hitler, Bill Gates, the Hansons, The Kennedys, Jesus, President Ford and Martha Stewart, no relation. Some comment on current forms of media, such as AOL chat rooms and over-hyped award shows.
Overall, this book is packed quirky little things that made me laugh out loud. It is very clever, very well written and very funny. For those who know Stewart through "The Daily Show," I think you'll know what to expect. For anyone who likes well-written satire that doesn't involve pigs named Napoleon, here's your book. Just a note: this probably isn't for the faint of heart or youngin's, especially Martha Stewart's essay. But it's still darn funny.
Thank you Jon Stewart. Quite a moment of Zen.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Martha Stewart's Vagina, the Taco Bell dog, and Hitler... Everyone, say hello to Jon Stewart., July 8, 2005

By	Dave Sprong "crash-rocky" (Indy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I, like many people out there, didn't know who Jon Stewart was until he replaced the the tepid Craig Kilborn on the now critically and nationally lauded, "The Daily Show". It took him a little while to find his footing in the area of "fake news", but eventually he quipped, poked, and prodded his way into the Comedy Central viewers respects and even was able to take the show to new heights as one of the top places that young people in this nation get their news (a bit of a scary thought, but a terrific acheivement for an outstanding show nonetheless).

But enough of the stuff we already know. You're probably asking, "How does this early stuff stand up to the what he's doing today(this book having been originally published in 1998)?" Well, I can honestly say that, though this outing is not without flaw, it is still a very amusing satire that anyone with any interest in politics, entertainment, or pop-culture in general should at least read through once. It does have it's dry spells and some of the humor is a bit dated now, but it is still an interesting work worthy of your time.

Some people may see the cover and think that this is some kind of cheesy autobiography, but in actuallity it is something very unique. What this book is is a collection of "fake essays" that cover a widely various amount of topics. For example, there is a chapter on how to adequately furnish one's vagina as told by Martha Stewart. In another, there is a take on a new way to "liven up" to Judiastic faith by taking such strides as renaming God "'Ol Uncle Pete" and "...[giving] all Chosen Ones... a free value pack worth hundreds of dollars in discounts at participating vendors (for example, 10 percenr off any dinner at Friendly's, with purchase of a Fishamajig sandwhich!)"

Absurd, lurid, and always over-the-top, this book has some geniune funny moments that will have you laughing out loud. Higlights include -but are not necessarily limited to- the previously mentioned "The New Judaism" essay, the tragically hilarious "A Very Hanson Christmas", the absolutely gut-busting "Pen Pals transcript" between Princess Diana and Mother Teresa, and the strangely ironic to today's socitey "Lack of Power: The Ford Tapes" (In his essay portraying a blitheringly incompetent Gerald Ford, you could easily insert a certain current president- who wiil go nameless :-P- and never be able to tell the difference.)

Unfortunately, the book does have a few duds. "Five Under Five" is only mildly chuckleworthy, "Da Vinci: The Lost Notebook" has some candidly funny- although almost completely predictable- premises (Although in all fairness, the "Ass-Comb" bit was hysterical), and the essays entitled "The Recipe" and "Microsoft Word '98 Suggested Spelling and Usage" feel like brain-dead filler and are completely skipable.

Despite it's flaws, this book is still a gut-busting read. It really serves as a foreshadow to the kind of stuff that Jon is doing today. Witty, outrageous, and even at times snotty, this book would be the perfect "after-dinner mint" to reading "America: The Book" (Notice that I didn't say "dessert" since the book is so short. At only 162 pages, even the most lethargic reader could finish it in a few days.) I really enjoyed this book and I think it'll probably hold a place in my collection for a long time to come. If you buy this book, you won't regret it. It's everything we've come to expect from Stewart and it works magnificently.

Hey, when you're first book has a picutre of a naked Abraham Lincoln holding his package in check on the back cover, God knows your gonna make some kind of impression :-P. Nooch.

61 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stewart's sarcastic, witty humor proves entertaining, June 4, 2001

By	Amy Krug "amykk25" (Centerville, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked up this book because I'm a huge fan of Jon Stewart's sarcastic, self-depreciating humor on The Daily Show. While I still prefer his in-person standup persona, Naked Pictures of Famous People is, well, funny.

The beauty of Stewart's humor is his intelligence, especially in the age of Tom Green, The Man Show, and TV Funhouse. It's comedy for those of us who got over laughing at someone getting hit in the nuts round about puberty. This book reemphasizes his intelligence and wit. I'd reccomend it for anyone who is a fan of smart comedy. If you're a Tom Green fan, probably stay away -though in that case, you probably wouldn't be browsing the editorial reviews on Amazon.com anyway. So on second thought, if you're reading this, buy the book.