Here's a list of recommended political books and humor books looking at the lighter side of politics, including best-sellers by Stephen Colbert, "The Daily Show," The Onion, Dave Barry, and others. You may also be interested in the dueling political humor books by About.com Political Humor Guide Daniel Kurtzman.
1. I Am America (And So Can You!)
By Stephen Colbert, 2007 – The celebrated host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report speaks truthiness to power in his hilarious debut book. Always controversial and outspoken, Colbert addresses why Hollywood is destroying America by inches, why evolution is a fraud, and why the elderly should be harnessed to millstones. You may not agree with everything he says, but at the very least, you'll understand that your differing opinion is wrong.
2. Goodnight Bush: An Unauthorized Parody
By Gan Golan and Erich Origen, 2008 - A brilliant parody of the beloved children's classic "Goodnight Moon" that roasts the Bush presidency. In it we see a childlike George W. Bush tucked safely away in the confines of his own room with all of the toys he's willfully destroyed, abused, or defaced.
3. Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth
By The Onion, 2007 – Today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why The Onion has published a world atlas: to help us.
4. Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme
By Calvin Trillin, 2008 - Displaying the form that made bestsellers of "Obliviously On He Sails" and "A Heckuva Job," tales of the Bush Administration in rhyme, Calvin Trillin trains his verse on the 2008 race for the presidency. "Deciding the Next Decider" is an ongoing campaign narrative in verse interrupted regularly by other poems, such as a country tune about John Edwards called "Yes, I Know He's a Mill Worker’s Son, But There’s Hollywood in That Hair" and a Sarah Palin song about her foreign policy credentials: "On a Clear Day, I See Vladivostok."
5. Aristotle and Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington
By Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, 2008 - Deploying jokes and cartoon as well as the occasional insight from Aristotle and his peers, Cathcart and Klein expose double-speak, flim-flam, and alternate reality of politics in America. Drawing from the pronouncements of everyone from Caesar to Condoleeza Rice, Genghis Kahn to Hillary Clinton, and Adolf Hitler to Al Sharpton, Cathcart and Klein help us learn to identify tricks such as "The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy" (non causa pro causa) and the "The Fallacy Fallacy" (argumentum and logicam).
6. The All-American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing
By Will Durst, 2008 - With the sacred cows of American politics practically begging for someone to puncture their pomposity, comedian Will Durst hits them in the funniest places. In "The All-American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing," this equal-opportunity offender swats both partisan political piñatas from both sides of the spectrum upside their heads.
7. Obamamania!: The English Language, Barackafied
By the Editors of Slate, 2008 - Whether you are a Baractogenarian (an Obama supporter over the age of twenty) or an Obombre (a Spanish-speaking male who supports Obama), you'll cherish this indispensable guide to one of the greatest Obomenons in American politics.
8. The Big Book of Campaign 2008 Political Cartoons
By Daryl Cagle and Brian Fairrington, 2008 - This collection of cartoons, by America's top editorial cartoonists, is a history of the 2008 presidential campaign. Hundreds of cartoons drawn from the most popular cartoon site on the web (www.cagle.com) tell the story of the primaries, the debates, the candidates, and all the missteps along the way.
9. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book)
By Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" Staff, 2004 – Jon Stewart, host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "The Daily Show," and his coterie of patriots deliver a hilarious look at American government -- "a citizen's guide to democracy inaction." Every bit as funny as the show itself, the book offers insights into our unique system of government and explores the reasons why concepts like one man, one vote, government by the people, and every vote counts have become such popular urban myths. (Also available: The Teacher's Edition)
10. The Worst-Case Scenario Almanac: Politics
By David Gorgenicht and Turk Regan, 2008 - This highly entertaining book collects the most disgraceful, dangerous, incompetent and downright awful events and people to hold public office, from Roman rulers to Beltway bandits. More than just a history lesson, it's also a political primer which can teach you how to take a pie in the face with aplomb, kiss a drooling baby, continue a bankrupt campaign, and more.
