'America,' the splendidly funny

Welcome to Democracy 101 -- but don't snore yet, because you're in for a treat. The self-effacing and quick-witted Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's immensely popular faux-news program "The Daily Show," will serve as your professor while you walk down history lane.\nYour primary reading will come from "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," a new satirical textbook of American government from Stewart and his fellow "Daily" writers that, hands down, will turn into a much better investment than that civics book currently collecting dust on your dorm room floor.\nThe book is so true to its schtick. As a matter of fact, it goes to great lengths to look like a clone of a civics textbook you would have once had, replete with colorful graphics, pretend study questions at the end of each chapter and even a "This book is the property of" stamp inside the front cover. \n"America" was, in fact, frequently mistaken for a real textbook as I carried it from class to class, which leads to a note of caution. "America" is what one could consider as embarrassingly funny for its reader, and should be read in controlled environments, such as outside of class so you don't giggle loudly during a somber lecture.\nThe book doesn't skip a chance for mockery, from early Rome's legacy ("a numerical system that allowed future generations to more easily keep track of Super Bowls") to the present-day media (which "serves to inform the voting public on matters relevant to its well-being," adding, "Why they've stopped doing this is a mystery").\nThe book might as well be considered a hardcopy annex of "The Daily Show." It performs the same precarious balancing act as the show -- savvy political artfulness evenly weighed with zany comedy. The book, much like the show, holds no punches in a "this is too serious to be taken seriously" sort of way, regularly taking bipartisan jabs.\nA judicial activist, it says, "sees the Constitution as a living document that can be adapted and re-interpreted to protect the needs of a changing society, such as 'marriage between sodomites' and 'impulse abortions.'" However, a strict constructionist interprets the Constitution according to the language and original intent of the text at the time of its writing. "Fortunately," it reads, "they have been endowed by God with the super-human gift of being able to read the minds of people who died 200 years ago. Naturally they use this power only for good."\nThe book's format and layout is busy, but ultimately it's more of a boon than a bane. Each of the 225 pages is loaded with so many jokes that you have to back-pedal to catch everything while holding off the urge to read ahead. Plus, it would be too difficult, I think, to read this book from start to finish. But as far as textbooks go, it's not suggested reading; it's certainly required, and you'll be satisfied when you're done.\n"America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" is available on \nwww.amazon.com for $16.97.