Note:  This review is based on the audiobook version of "America" rather than the printed one.

As you listen to this book, read by Jon Stewart and regulars on The Daily Show cast, what you're going to hear is probably 85-90% a factual textbook on the U.S. Government.  Another 5% consists of gratuitous profanity (the kind they "bleep out" on The Daily Show).  That leaves us with 5-10% of the book.  That part is the "humor" in this book.

What's the humor like? Consider this excerpt:

"It's finally Election Day, the day Americans celebrate their Democracy.  And while Election Day isn't a federal holiday, it IS held on a Tuesday - for convenience.  On Election Day, Americans exercise their fundamental right to vote... or not.  55-70% vote for the latter.  It is perhaps a sign of the strength of our republic that so few people feel the need to participate.  THAT must be the reason.  Typically, voting is done in church basements or middle school gymnasiums staffed by well-intentioned volunteers whose naive enthusiasm more than makes up for their blind incompetence.  At their disposal, technology at least 50 to 75 years behind its time, because, if it was good enough for McKinley, it's good enough for us."

Passages like the above make up probably 90% of the humor of the book. Just as the above passage insults the people who volunteer to ensure that elections go off as smoothly, other passages insult Canadians, Americans in general, and more.

I mentioned earlier that The Daily Show was once reasonably objective in its political humor, delivering strongly worded jabs at both Republicans and Democrats, but that lately this "objectivity" has vanished.  The book suffers from that same problem.  Consider the following passage, which slams the Republican party and (by leaving it out of the discussion) makes the Democratic party sound squeaky clean:

"Now that you've defined yourself, it is time for the more important task of defining your opponent.  Remember, labels stick - so make up a good one.  It needs to be simple, easily repeatable, and able to latch on to the electorate's collective unconscious like a deer tick on a fawn.  Here's a list of some pre-vetted favorites:  Draft dodger. <gasp> Flip-flopper. <gasp> Liberal. <gasp> East coast liberal. <gasp> West coast liberal. <gasp> Tax-and-spender. <gasp> Womanizer. <gasp> Soft on defense. <gasp> Soft on crime. <gasp> Soft on fabric. <gasp> Note: All these phrases are typically used by Republicans to define Democrats.  This is because Republicans are superior to Democrats with this political technique.  In fact, Republicans are superior to Democrats with ALL political techniques."

In other words, the above passage tells us that the Republicans are name-calling, labeling, "political" types, while Democrats don't know how to name-call, label, or act "politically".  If you really believe that, let's look at a few labels Democrats have applied to Republicans:

• "arch-conservative" - Helen Thomas, Hearst White House Columnist
• "dipsticks" - Molly Ivins, Political Columnist
• "hard-liners" - Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times Columnist
• "evil", "corrupt", "brain dead" - Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman
• "stupid a** right-wing idiot" - Sen. John F. Kerry, Democratic Candidate for President in 2004
• "religious extremists" - Sen. Hillary Clinton

When you compare "East Coast Liberal" with labels like "religious extremists", "evil", or "arch-conservative", it sure sounds to me like the Democrats are doing a pretty good job of finding powerful labels to attach to their Republican counterparts.

It would be an exaggeration to say that there are no criticisms of Democrats in the book.  There are.  These usually take the form of a quick play on words or a snappy one-liner, rarely delivering the kind of venom that the passage about Republicans quoted above does.  The delivery of those lines is done in a tone that almost says "I don't really mean this, but..."

So, to sum up, this book is for the most part incredibly dull and boring.  The title "America" would seem to make you think it was a send-up of all things American and political, when the heavy pro-Democratic focus makes its message more like "America's government is all screwed, thanks mostly to the Republicans and a little bit to the Democrats, a very little bit, a minuscule little bit, really."

On a 1-10 scale, this book gets about a 4 from me, mostly because I enjoyed how the audiobook was presented like the soundtrack to an old high school civics filmstrip and was read by the cast of The Daily Show itself.