Stephen Colbert | "American Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't"

Authors at Google presents Stephen Colbert and his new book, "America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't"
This 10 minute highlight reel is a preview of full version to be released later this week.
Find the full version here: http://youtu.be/-HpBHWUPa8Q

You can also find Stephen's book on Google Play here: http://goo.gl/Jyujo .

America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't is more of a coffee-table book, with large color pictures, and chapter photos that require the use of included 3-D glasses. It falls somewhere between I Am America and the Daily Show faux-textbooks America (The Book) and Earth (The Book), which used that organizing principle to their advantage. The premise follows the many apocalyptic views of the past four years, claiming America has gone off the rails and completely lost its way, and that only this book offers the true path to restore America's greatness. Which was never really gone, because it's America.

The best idea America Again mocks is the one contained in its title. In particular, it skewers Newt Gingrich's 2011 book A Nation Like No Other, which claimed, "America's exceptional greatness is not based on that fact that we are the most powerful, most prosperous—and most generous—nation on earth. Rather, those things are the result of American Exceptionalism." That is one preposterously arrogant whopper, which America Again exploits as an illogical chicken/egg position. The subtle difference between a beneficial amount of pride and the unchecked belief in exceptionalism is ripe for mockery.

Stephen Colbert has been playing Stephen T. Colbert since 2005. In those seven years, he's built an impressive mythology to his character, a funhouse mirror held up to shame all other egomaniacal pundits for their hubris. But while the shtick is still reliably funny on television, it doesn't translate as well into print, because a book doesn't have television's immediacy. There's no Super PAC plotline, just a bunch of chapters that respond to issues a bit too late. Colbert and his staff are still extraordinarily funny, but in reaching for a middle-of-the-road coffee table humor book, America Again finds the limits of their comedic talent.

Hosted by Eric Schmidt
Directed by Lee Stimmel

• Category

  Comedy

[delacaravanio]

Awww, just 10 minutes? Post the uncut interview, please.

[Devi Stewart]

Read the descriptions. The full version will be released later this week.

[TheHolyMongolEmpire]

I love Stephen. He does so much good from showing the public how evil fox is and from how such a genuine person he is.

[TheHolyMongolEmpire]

Live

[sheistyindividual]

The birth of the fail whale.

[Remo Gutierrez]

6:53 smart chick, great way of asking. "or did comedy pick you"

[superhamzah85]

Is he being sarcastic all the time? Like making fun of conservatism? I don't know much about Colbert being European.

[08Annasia]

Such a great story teller!

[John Doe]

If you click the Show more link right above your comment there is a link to the full video

[americangods21]

I miss his days with Paul and Amy.

[Radzell]

Don't worry libertarians just hope everyone is a libertarian despite no being able to vote anyone into office.