I’m a bit late to pick up The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race by Jon Stewart. Of course I’ve heard of it, but I didn’t own a copy until my son gave it to me for Christmas. Naturally we were both laughing within minutes of me opening it.

Truth is that I haven’t read the whole book yet. It’s hilarious for a few pages, but the cynical humor (and often insulting humor) of Stewart is best taken in small doses. Some of it is truly sophomoric, of course. But there are nuggets of hilarity that keep you coming back for more.

The premise of the book is that it’s a users guide to Earth for any space aliens who come across the planet after we are long gone. It explains life, society, culture, science, religion, etc., to a species from another planet. The brilliance of this approach is that it really does force you to look at our world with fresh eyes. And when that is done through the eyes of Stewart, you get some amazingly funny insights.