I don't listen to audiobooks too often, but an oral history, of all things, seemed a good way to include some different formats in my reading year. I wish I had enjoyed this more, and I think the potential for this was huge, but the problems here all boil down to a single massive problem: you've got actors reading lines. My first question when I saw this was, "Is it voiced by the actual comedians and writers?" and when I saw that it was not, I should have trusted my gut instinct that this was a

Words can not describe how much I miss Jon Stewart, or how happy I was to see him on with Colbert during the conventions. I miss him so, so much. I selfishly wished he was still behind the desk on The Daily Show during this complete clusterfuck of an election season, but I am glad he was not, in the end. He was so passionate and angry for 16 years, his brain might have actually exploded if he had to report on this shit every night.I wonder how different the show might feel had John Oliver gotten...

I am so glad I read this book. I adore Jon Stewart and watched The Daily Show religiously while he was host. I enjoyed immersing myself into the shows history and learning about the impact Jon, the writers, crew and field reporters had for years. Jon steered an incredible ship and he did so while remaining passionate and yet humble. He didn't allow his success and the success of the show get to his head. Instead he used his success to shed light and make known issues that weren't being addressed...

The book is a history of a (fake) news show, which means that the book is basically a history of American politics and pop culture from the 1990s to the present. It carried me back through painful moments as well as laughs, making the book a more emotional experience than I expected. The book balances funny bits from the show with commentary from the writers' room. As a fan of comedy writing--and as a politics junkie forever falling off the recovery wagon--I adored this book.

This book was a lot of fun!It seems like everyone that was ever part of the show as far as on-air personalities or behind the scenes people were interviewed here. However, many of the guests-friendly to the show or not, were also interviewed, which made the book all the more interesting.I learned a lot about the dynamics of the show and how it worked. I learned about who was not happy there and who was. I learned that Jon Stewart paid people out of his own pocket for as long as he could when the...

As a fan of the show, I expected to like this book. But I didn't anticipate how interesting it would be from a historical perspective. The book takes readers through many major historical events, including several elections, 9/11 and major shootings, showing Jon Stewart and his crew figure out how to cover them as both comedians and people dedicated to exposing truth. And of course it also gets into a lot of internal politics, including a rough transition from the Kilborn era and some other dram...

I moved to Washington, DC in 2008, and moved to a Maryland suburb in 2016. In nearly ten years, the only March or Rally I've ever attended was when Jon Stewart showed up to try and restore sanity in 2010. I couldn't hear a thing, but it was amazing. The sensibilities of The Daily Show and Colbert Report were so refreshing, and I had forgotten how great they were at what they did. This book made me feel nostalgic, and also helped me to appreciate how much work and commitment by an entire staff we...

Audio. A compilation of interviews, etc that provide a history of The Daily Show.I LOVE Jon Stewart!!!!!!!My admiration for his intelligence, humor, courage,honesty, morality and his entire personhood is unbounded. The book is long but never boring-read blurb for all it goes into. It was comprehensive and AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AUDIO VERSION GREAT!PS IMO, if Abraham Lincoln, UNICEF, and Doctors Without Borders had a child it would be-Jon Stewart! How's that for over the top expression of my est...

The inevitable success often seems inevitable only in retrospect. The Beatles were this provincial guitar band until they weren’t. “All in the Family” had been rejected by ABC before it became, in almost the same form, the dominant show of the 1970s for CBS. And Jon Stewart was a standup comic taking over a marginal fake-news cable show until he became JON STEWART and the show became, of course, “The Daily Show.” “The Daily Show (The Book)” is an oral history, ably compiled by Chris Smith, about...

A readable, nostalgic account of The Daily Show, focusing on its prime years when Jon Stewart was at the helm. (A quick google shows me that apparently viewership has increased under Trevor Noah, though that seems counter-intuitive to me. Is it anything like the cultural touchstone it once was? Even Last Week Tonight clips seem far more likely to go at least low-key viral than anything produced by TDS in the last few years, though maybe this perception is just a side-effect of me now being Old.)...

Interesting, and you can believe every testimony, but really dragged.

Although the show’s beginnings and the Trevor Noah era are touched upon, the bulk of this book is about Jon Stewart’s tenure. Fair enough. He’s on the cover and all. And that is the period where most people started watching the show.Chris Smith has interviewed literally everyone for this book. Not only are there extensive quotes from the Daily Show staff--past and present, on-camera and off--but also from many of the interview subjects, and even public figures who were on the receiving end of so...

I was expecting to laugh, which I did, but I wasn't expecting to be moved, and this book definitely managed to do that!

I've always wondered what when on behind the scenes of The Daily Show. This was my opportunity to find out.This behind the scenes at the Daily Show has all the recognizable name correspondents and many only famous only if you are a credit reader. The number of people who took time to help write this book is a tribute to Jon Stewart and the show itself. The show evolved over Stewart's leadership. I always thought Stewart was a mensch. This book proves it.

For those who watched Comedy Central’s The Daily Show for many years, this book is a joy to read. It allows one to revel in its hallmark moments, following the script as you remember watching it. As the title suggests, a panoply of people, in short bursts, tell this story. Smith has done an admirable job (à la George Plimpton in his biographies of Edie Sedgwick and Truman Capote) of threading together this massive narrative by way of individual recollections, sometimes contradicting or engaging

Disclaimer: I really love Jon Stewart. Like really really love him. My political awakening and my subsequent views were shaped by him and The Daily Show. Thus, this review will be blatantly biased. You've been warned.For someone who's a part of a generation that grew up during the late-90s and early-2000s, a generation who's first real news and tragedy was 9/11, who saw the fear-mongering of the Bush administration and the way-too-meek-counter-response of the Democrats, it is hard to overstate t...

Really fun read. It gave me some additional insights on the history of TDS. I would strongly recommend it to fans of the show, and with equal strength, not recommend it to anybody else. Great reminder of what the show was about, but I am not sure there is a general message for non-die-hard fans. In that sense, it feels like a wasted opportunity, as the show itself had a strong general message of healthy skepticism of the media and strong call for action in politics and life.

This show is the only show I used to watch religiously. I remember every single one of the episodes highlighted in this book. The book was both cathartic and tragic. I miss Jon Stewart. I miss the sincerity of the show. I know that Stewart has a reputation for being cynical, but I loved his and the show's humanity and righteous anger. I remember the post 9/11 show and the financial crisis show. This book was really fun to read--and I don't think you have to have been a fan to enjoy it, but it pr...

This book was a gift from someone who knew I loved the Daily Show, but I loved the show for its humor and biting commentary, none of which is present in this book. Instead, the book is a collection of random comments about the in-fighting that went on behind the scenes. By the fifth chapter, I began using the book only to put myself to sleep. If you want to re-experience office politics, just go re-watch Office Space (it's still available on Netflix).I would not recommend this book.

If you asked me who I missed more, Jon Stewart or my deceased mother, I'd have to stop and think before answering.I started watching Jon in college, during the '04 election. I thought the war in Iraq was shady and amoral, but the Republican mantra (at the time, anyway) was that disagreeing with the President made you unpatriotic. Jon Stewart was the only one I saw actually challenging that idea. I consider him one of most important factors in my understanding of the world and I have so much resp...