when i first got back into reading, all of my material was made up of books i got for 10 cents at my library paperback sale.

i am very relieved that i am no longer in that era of my life.

this was just ok.

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago2-and-a-half-stars eh memoir ...more20 s Punk1,523 287

Humor. These short fiction pieces are supposed to be funny, and I did laugh a few times, but mostly I felt something was missing. It looks and sounds it should be funny: Martha Stewart's decorating tips for vaginas, Lady Di's correspondence with Mother Teresa, the secret Gerald Ford tapes ("Did you know both my names end in d?"), but in almost every case it feels the joke's been lost in the translation. Stewart's a talented writer with a flair for comedic word choice, and the book is amusing, perplexing, and thought-provoking, but it's not nearly as "laugh-out-loud hilarious" as the cover blurb would have you believe.

Two stars because it's well-written, but not as funny as you'd expect from Stewart.17 s Siria1,957 1,555

Sporadically amusing, but nowhere near as funny as I would have expected from Jon Stewart. Some of these essays had the potential to be truly, caustically funny—Martha Stewart's tips on how to tastefully decorate your vagina; Larry King interviewing Adolf Hitler—but others either suffered obviously from not being delivered orally by Stewart, with the timing and pacing and inflection that he does so well, or were just plain silly. The opening story in particular, the one about the Kennedys, was rather painfully unfunny. There's nothing here that he doesn't do in The Daily Show, and do better.20th-century american-literature essays ...more10 s Deborah15 4

I started as a fan of Jon Stewart during his run on MTV, and it just increased at a ridiculous speed between his comedy central special where he talks about going to the proctologist, this book, and eventually settling in with the Daily Show (I know, I know, I used to be obsessed with Craig Kilborne as well, so sue me). But this book is just hilarious and smart and really shows how brillant he is and would soon show.

I used to lend people this book in good faith that they would return it, but it's just too good. i think i've purchased maybe 7 copies.9 s Stewart Tame2,360 98

I’ve allegedly read this before, but I'm not convinced. Goodreads records that I marked it as Read back in 2014, which means either that I read it sometime before that and added it shortly after joining the site when I went through and added all my reading logs, or that I meant to mark it as Want To Read and slipped up. Certainly wouldn't be the first time …

I think I’d remember having previously read pieces , “The Recipe”, or, “The Devil and William Gates,” or, “Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold.” Jon Stewart has a fine sense of humor, with a superb sense of timing.

Some of these are very much products of their time--the late 90's. Remember Hanson? AOL? And yet, for every moment that makes you think, “Wow! This book is old,” there are at least a dozen where you laugh and say, “How true!” Recommended! 5 s Jonathan18 1 follower

This collection from 1998 will be disappointing for most of Stewart's fans (I am one). The first story is a pretty good dissection of the Kennedy family mythos which nicely demonstrates Stewart's raunchy-but-good-natured wit. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is pretty pointless: juvenile, facile, and rarely funny. The stories seem to grope toward satire, but with neither the deserving targets nor the clear moral point of view that make the Daily Show so sharp, articulate, and entertaining. The result falls somewhere between Woody Allen at his silliest and the wise-ass fifteen-year-old that Jon Stewart presumably once was.

I found this book interesting to read, but only because it captures Jon Stewart at a turning point in his creative life, as he began to mature from a good stand-up comic and so-so talk show host into the accomplished social critic and satirist he has become. This book is mostly a series of misguided attempts, but luckily for us he started figuring out what to do soon after it was published.4 s TommyAuthor 3 books37

A very funny book and, along with Steve Martin's "Pure Drivel" and Chris Buckley's "Wry Martinis", my impetus to write my first (quite sloppy) collection of essays on pop culture, "Smirking into the Abyss".

Jon juxtaposes some great cultural icons, such as the correspondences between Princess Diana and Mother Teresa, Vincent Van Gogh trying to communicate with his brother in an internet chat room, The Last Supper taking place in a trendy restaurant, Hitler guesting on "Larry King", and my favorite, the progression of the yearly 'Christmas form letter' from the mom of the kids from Hanson.

The only pitfall is, as with any pop culture-driven book (as I quickly learned) is that the shelf-life can be very brief, so some references are stale, unless you can take yourself back to the late 90's as you read to appreciate the pith with which Jon nails the reference. But, for the most part, the pieces hold up remarkably well. This is a very funny book.4 s Bryan134

A short, entertaining read from the host of The Daily Show. Billed as a collection of "essays", it is an eclectic collection of fictional 3rd-person accounts from a variety of real and imagined characters. Not being familiar with the format going in, it took a chapter before I realized what I was reading. Once aware, pure funny. Only thing that dragged was fact that book is more than 10 years old, so several of the "topical" references are not only dated but confusing (Hanson chapter would have been a hoot when Hanson was relevant pop band, but my I was well into it before even knowing what was being parodied-then it was hilarious).

If you enjoy Stewart's witty tirades on his show, this book will entertain the heck out of you for a couple hours.comedy current-events politics ...more4 s E120 20

Is there a Yiddish word for "meh"? If so, I choose that word to describe this book.humor4 s Chris341 1,020

This was a present from some friends, for which I am very thankful. It's a series of comedic essays, similar to Steve Martin's Pure Drivel or Woody Allen's Without Feathers, and it is quite funny. Not really laugh-out-loud funny, but funny. I think Stewart's comedy is best rendered as a spoken art. He's fantastic with inflection and timing, which unfortunately doesn't translate so well onto the page.

Still and all, there's a lot of good stuff in here. "The Devil and William Gates" is excellent, as are "Adolph Hitler: The Larry King Interview" and "The Cult."

Yes, I know, quite a change in tone, but that's what keeps life interesting.humor3 s blueisthenewpink482 40

I loved Jon Stewart as the host of The Daily Show and had been looking forward to get my hands on this book for soooo long. That's never a good start. The expectations being so high, I was bound to be disappointed.

There is this idea shared by some comedians, Ricky Gervais for instance, that nothing is off limits in comedy. I don't share this view.

The first piece in this book made fun of the Kennedys' curse, how so many members die in various accidents, but it's alright as a couple of babies are just dropping out of the women each day. This is a sentiment seriously held by some people. I had the misfortune to hear this from a woman when talking about the 'other' group of people in their country. And I know Stewart doesn't share this, probably tries to show how wrong and absurd it is by making fun of it, but I still couldn't dis the very first writing in the book.

The one with Princess Diana fangirling about Mother Theresa was another one where I get what he wants to tell but I still don't the way he is doing it. It might actually be really hurtful, undeservedly so. I don't have a problem with jokes on people's real asshole behaviour, they have to be called out on them. But I don't think it's acceptable to make fun of innocent real people, even if it's obviously far-fetched and is used in order to point at the shitty behaviour of others. I don't think the goal justifies the means.

With all that said, the book had me smirking a couple of times, I quite d all the pieces in the last two-thirds of it, but it has never been a laugh-out-loud read.2020nemgyerek2 s Patrick Breen2

This book has many hilarious stories. From a young jewish boy spending time at the Kennedy Compound toChristmas with the Hanson family(mmmbop)! Also, check out Larry King's interview with Hitler and not to mention Martha Stewart's decorative tips for a certain part of the female anatomy. I could not stop laughing at this book!2 s J. Aleksandr WoottonAuthor 8 books174

Mostly not funny... one imagines that at the time of their original New Yorker publication, they were more relevant to current events and therefore more than mildly amusing.

Still, you can definitely see Stewart's style emerging here, pre-Daily Show, which is interesting as an insight into his early career. His real comedic genius was yet to come.2 s Jon Hewelt462 8

I don't remember much, but I really this book.

For a long time, my only conception of Jon Stewart was as the host of The Daily Show.

Then I found out about young Jon Stewart. And holy crap, what a contrast!

Young Jon Stewart, older Jon Stewart, is cool. But brooding. Cynical. I saw a clip of him interviewing George Carlin on (I think) MTV, and was amazed by both interviewer and interviewee.

So naturally I had to read Naked Pictures of Famous People. Not just because I'd become enamored with young Jon Stewart, but because I've got a thing for story collections by people who are not primarily thought of as writers. Jesse Eisenberg, for example, has an excellent collection called Bream Gives Me Hiccups. And though stand-up comedy invariably requires a lot of writing, I think I enjoyed Patton Oswalt's written work as much as I enjoyed his performed work.

So how is Jon Stewart's collection? Good! I just don't remember any concrete details of it. But I do remember the smarm, and I remember the scathing wit. How politically-charged Stewart's always been. It was surprising. But awesome.

Absolutely check this one out. Definitely a reread for me.1 Kaja Šmidová151

Ah yes. Very dated, and you can see Jon Stewart was still smoking a lot of weed because he thought he was incredibly hilarious, but it was a nice throwback to the time I cannot remember and the Jon Stewart I never knew.1 Jonathan Arreola1 review3

Quick read and very amusing.1 Sway77

Jon Stewart is brilliant in literary sense. Very funny and weirdly perfect. 1 Jackson Stoll1 review

Naked Pictures of Famous People. The title alone is enough to make you turn your head and reread the cover. The book by Jon Stewart is an outrageously funny collection of short stories that will have you rolling on the floor with laughter.
The book includes stories about anything from the Kennedy family to Martha Stewart to Mr. Jangles, the Taco Bell dog. One of my favorite chapters, A Very Hanson Christmas, is about a family and the Christmas cards they send out. Stewart takes this simple idea and turns it into a ridiculous mess of comedy. The family starts out as a "normal" holiday obsessed family, but as the years go by, more and more trouble hits the family. In the first letter, the family signs "God Bless", but by the end it is signed "God is Dead". Clearly, things didn't go as planned for the family. Jon Stewart does a most excellent job of running with simple ideas and turning them into comedy gold.
I picked this book up at a thrift shop in Seattle for a quarter. This book is worth way more than a quarter! It caught my eye originally with the name “Jon Stewart” written across it, then after a closer look, the title had me do a double take! As a fan of Stewart’s work on The Daily Show and as a stand-up comedian, I knew I couldn’t pass on the chance to read his book. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants a quick read. I enjoyed reading one chapter/short story before bed each night. This book is really quite funny and Jon Stewart did one Hell of a job writing it.1 Joana646 13

I found this book in one of the shelves in my house and since I've been watching Colbert every day for a couple of years now (and sometimes Trevor Noah as well), I thought it was the right time to pick this up
My first thought was that this book was weird, some were just too weird, but good. I really the one about Ford, somehow it rang true to the current American President (just with less tantrums); I also really enjoyed the one about the Last Supper - that was probably my favorite. The one with the plan for a award show was also really well done, as well as the cult one. They were just all fun and weird, and sometimes one was stronger than the other
A really interesting book with a good translation (including footnotes for "language puns")2 s Sarah Sammis7,415 243

I have relatives who are rabid fans of The Daily Show. I've watched clips now and then but never a full show. So when I came across Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart from before he was hosting The Daily Show I thought I should give it a read.

This short book of satire has eighteen essays crammed into 163 pages. There are all number of different famous people from the Kennedys, the Hansons, Martha Stewart, Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, Hitler and Leonardo da Vinci among others. Each essay is written in a different style and voice but they are all odd and out there.

I can't say that any of them made me laugh. I smiled a few times at "The New Judaism", "Pen Pals" and "Da Vinci: the Lost Notebook." Of those, the Da Vinci piece is my favorite for the included drawings.

Some of the essays are sticking with me for the ick factor. Top on the list is "Martha Stewart's Vagina" which is crude for the sake of being crude. The Hitler one is okay but lets face it, Hitler's been satired to death by now and Mel Brooks wins with The Producers.

I think I'll stick with nodding politely when the latest Daily Show is mentioned. He's sometimes funny to me but not frequently enough for me to consider myself a fan. memoir read-in-2009 released1 Chelsea86 8

I have to say that I *do* have more intellectual reading material on my list, but the first thing that I've gotten myself to finish lately is John Stewart's Naked Pictures of Famous People. I've only in the past year or so become a "Daily Show" viewer. I watched it many, many years ago, and not understanding much of politics and why the show's even supposed to be funny, I panned it. That said, I still usually fast-forward through the people that aren't JS. They just tend to annoy the piss out of me.

I've flipped through "America" and found it kinda, well, dumb to be honest. Maybe I didn't find the "meat" of it. I added Naked Pictures to my reading list, curious as to what it would contain.

Having read it, I have to say it was a lot the "Daily Show". The book is a series of short essays, fake transcripts, and assorted brain spewing. There are parts that are pointed commentary on an issue or situation, and there are parts that are "fluff satire" that really are just silly for the sake of being silly, without much substance.

Overall, it was a great distraction, something to keep the brain busy during particularly boring shows at work. ;) If you're a fan of the "Daily Show" you'll enjoy this incarnation of Stewart's humor. 1 Katherine91 6

"During the spring of 1935," the first entry begins, "I had the good fortune of making as my close acquaintance none other than John F. (Jack) Kennedy." Thus begins a romp through the fantastic and absurdly imagined worlds of the rich and famous, which I somehow discovered in the non-fiction section of my local library. Perhaps not as topical 10+ years on, Naked Pictures is still no less hilarious.

Fans of the Daily Show will recognize Stewart's usual dry wit in dealing with celebrity, while fans of satirical writing will appreciate the multitude of forms which the various pieces take, from a series of Christmas newsletters from the Hanson family (you know, Isaac, Taylor and Zack?) to Renaissace-inspired drawings in "Da Vinci: The Lost Notebook." In what I believe is the pinnacle of the book, Stewart attempts to "bring back literacy and the ancient art of letter writing" by portraying Vincent van Gogh in a series of AOL chatrooms, at a time when those were the highest form of internet culture.

A fun, quick read, for anyone looking to have a laugh at pomp and circumstance, or interested in seeing what Jon Stewart did before "America (The Book)".1 Plum-crazy2,290 41

I finished this book sooner than expected, partly because it has short easy chapters & partly because I did find my self skipping bits.
I didn't know some of the names in the book but maybe I'm just ignorant...should I know Sheldon Stein? Well, even though I don't (sorry, Sheldon!) that chapter, Revenge is a dish best served cold amused me. I also d The Devil & Bill Gates & the Last Supper.

However, Martha Stewart's Vagina & Da Vinci's Notebook were ones where I found myself skipping bits (I found the writing in the Notebook hard to read....must be old age creeping up on me!). The Recipe I just didn't get! That however is not an unusual feature of short stories for me...

Anyhow, the bits I did made me laugh...but I've just one question - where were the naked pictures? That might have got it more stars ;o)nonfiction-misc1 jenn493 25

I thought this was really funny. It was a gift, so I wasn't nessarily expecting much, and since the back cover called it a collection of essays, I assumed it was another of those "That One Pundit Writes the Kind of Stuff He Says on TV" books. But this is fiction written before Stewart hosted TDS, so it wasn't what you'd think.

Some of the cultural references are really specific, and I can see why that turns some readers off. The story about the Kennedys is only really funny if you know a lot of Kennedy trivia, and "Martha Stewart's Vagina" probably requires some prior experience reading her magazine. And I can't decide if I feel sorry or not for anyone who doesn't remember the early days of AOL chatrooms well enough to relate to those bits.20101 Maj339 18

A pleasantly swift read, I pretty much read the 2nd half of it this morning in one go.

A mixed bag of a book, but the positive (and funny) outweighs the more dated, more WTF-y & less funny by abt 70/30. Hence the 4 stars.

Predictably, my fave bits (stories? chapters? segments?) were those related to religion in some way (The New Judaism, The Cult, The Devil and William Gates), but I was also positively surprised by some of the rest (Pen Pals, Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold, Adolf Hitler: The Larry King Interview).

I think making Breakfast At Kennedy's the opening number was a smart move. It's an ideal story to separate the grain from the chaff from among the potential readers. If you make it through the first story, you're going to mostly enjoy the rest as well.1 Heather186 7

i finished this a few days ago and only then realized how i was relating some of it to things that i was finding funny. how this book helped me understand the how and why some things are funny to me, and how to build off of that. which is in itself funny, since that's certainly not the point of this book, but as someone who gets a high off making people laugh, it certainly was a nice bonus for my personage.

as to the contents...this book's first two chapters are pretty uneven, and while there are a few others that follow suit, the rest...heeeelarious. much snickering commenced. really good if you're TDS fan too, so you can really hear where stewart's inflections would ly be. 1 Jesse Houle103 5

This book made me lol from time to time but there were also a few moments where I felt it dragged a bit. There were a lot of references (and yes, this could be more the fault of the reader than the writer) to people I wasn't familiar enough with to properly understand all of his reference-based humor. Thankfully, Stewart's referencing of popular and not-so-popular public and historical figures is not quite at the level of, say, Dennis Miller's obscurity. America: The Book hands down beats Naked Pictures of Famous people, I'd say, but both are going to be fun if you're a Daily Show/Stewart fan.1 Victor DavisAuthor 25 books68

I don't know what I was reading. Felt a publisher called him up and said "Look, I know you said you didn't want to write a book, but can't you dig around your house and maybe find some notes, thoughts, diary entries, sketch ideas that never happened, anything?" "Yeah sure," Stewart said, and mailed off a few random, coffee-stained, handwritten loose-leaf notebook pages he found in his couch cushions.

I read the first three chapters and JS' extremely recognizable, intelligent voice is nowhere to be found. Totally confusing drivel.put-it-down1 Bev469 21

This 1998 book (which has no illustrations in it) by the host of The Daily Show is, to put it mildly, insane. Entertainment Weekly commented "You've got to be smart to be a smart-ass." The 19 essays in this book have wonderful titles "Martha Stewart's Vagina," "The Last Supper, or the Dead Waiter," "Vincent and Theo on AOL," and "Adolf Hitler: The Larry King Interview" among others. Stewart covers politics, religion, and celebrity with the acerbic with that made him such a cultural icon during his run on The Daily Show. It makes a great bathroom book.humor1 Rhonda201

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