Nowadays, it seems that everywhere you look, there’s Jon Stewart poking fun at the way things are in our country. From the presidential candidates to the American media, nobody is safe from his biting, yet oh-so-witty commentary.

Each night, over one million people tune in to the Stewart hosted “The Daily Show,” which runs at least three times every day on cable network Comedy Central. The show, which won a Peabody award for their 2000 election coverage and two Emmys last year, is quickly becoming one of the most popular outlets for world news and information for young people in America, despite the fact that it is an entertainment-oriented program.

Well, chalk another one up to “The Daily Show” powerhouse, because now there’s “America: The Book.”

Please note: in order to fully utilize this book, it will require reading. This could potentially be a pretty large hurdle, but once it’s overcome, everything else is gravy; this book sucks you right in.

On the surface, it looks like an elementary school social studies textbook. In fact, it’s set up like that throughout the entire book. However, as you start reading, you realize that this is a little different from the lessons you got in fifth grade.

Anybody who has seen “The Daily Show” can probably guess the kind of humor that’s scattered throughout the book. It’s immature, sophomoric, and extra heavy on the sarcasm. It’s also one of the greatest examples of satire to come along in a long, long time.

If you are trying to brush up on American history and how things go down in D.C., this may not be the book for you. There’s far too much embellished (read: fake) information in here to offer a totally accurate look at our political system. There’s a foreword by Thomas Jefferson, for God’s sake. (Note: Thomas Jefferson, our nation’s third president, died in 1829, just in case you guys didn’t get that one.)

This isn’t the kind of book that you read from front to back. This is the kind of book that is best enjoyed when you have a few minutes to kill and are conveniently sitting within reach of it; read for a while, laugh, flip a few pages, read, laugh some more and so on. Believe me, I know from experience. I didn’t read the whole thing, either.

For those still undecided about the book, I will leave you with a quote of praise from Ayn Rand, author of “Anthem” and “The Fountainhead:” “This is similar to my works in that anyone who reads it is sure to be an asshole for at least a month afterward.”

(That was a joke. Ayn Rand is dead, too.)