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Letter to the editor

A satisfying wink-wink for Colbert fans

Even Papa Bear might get a laugh from Stephen Colbert's alter ego.

By Colette Bancroft, Times Book Editor
Published October 7, 2007

  Anybody expecting Stephen Colbert to break character in his new book, I Am America (And So Can You!),would be wrong. And crazy.

What fans are looking for in this big, glossy production is what they love about Comedy Central's The Colbert Report: some of the sharpest cultural-political satire around, embodied in the excruciatingly egotistical, proudly clueless talk show bloviator who shares a name with the brilliant actor who plays him.

I Am America is the kind of book even Colbert's character could love: easy to read. It poses as his autobiography, broken into easily digestible chunks and sprinkled with charts (in "Endangered Animals and Why They Are Unloved by God," we learn the Florida panther's sin: "Laziness. Where's the challenge in hunting slow, elderly prey?"), plus lists, Fun Zone pages and lots of photos, most of Colbert.

Notes in the margins work just like "The Word," one of the funniest segments on the television show. And the annotated version of Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner speech is worth the price of the book.

Even the footnotes are punch lines, like this one in the chapter on the media: "'Soft-cheese asphyxiation' is the 2nd leading cause of death among intellectuals, after 'drinking with Christopher Hitchens.'"

But one essential thing is missing. Full disclosure: I've been an ardent Colbert fangirl since his Strangers With Candy days, so, although his character would never expect a member of the media to do so, I'll admit my bias. But it's a bias Colbert Nation shares: This book, like the writing for Colbert Report, is wicked funny, but Colbert's performance is what makes the show soar.

So consider I Am America (And So Can You!) a supplement, heroes. Turn to it if, say, a bear gnaws through your TV cable. But nothing can take the place of the real fake Stephen Colbert.

Colette Bancroft can be reached at (727) 893-8435 or bancroft@sptimes.com.

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I Am America (And So Can You!)

By Stephen Colbert

Grand Central Publishing, 230 pages, $26.99

[Last modified October 3, 2007, 15:51:32]