Mr. Book just finished Democracy Or Else: How To Save America In 10 Easy Steps, by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor.

I was excited to see this book was coming out. I have been a fan of The Pod Save America podcast, so I thought a book by the hosts of the show would be good. I admit that I was wrong.

This book is nothing more than a juvenile attempt at humor. While the show will occasionally use humor, it is done sparingly. This is the opposite of that. The humor to substance balance is way too skewed in favor of the former. And the key word in the first sentence of this paragraph is “attempt”. One can write a good political satire. One can write an effective humorous political book. But, when the humor is childish and stupid, what you get is a very bad book.

I don’t know what the audience for this book is. I know the audience for the show is people who follow politics. But I think the target audience for this book is people who don’t. When there is substance in the book, it is of the politics for dummies level.

Unfortunately, at Amazon, I see that this book is #1 in campaigns & elections, #1 in civics and #1 in practical politics. Unfortunately, all 12 Amazon ratings are 5 stars. I can see the authors deciding this means that their “humor” was a success and that should be the new focus of their show. The first time they try that will be the last time I listen to it.

At least there are, at this moment, two 1 star ratings at Goodreads. I’ve got to wrap up this review so I can raise that number up to three.

I have one question for the authors. In the “about the authors” section, they write that they “are the hosts of the surprisingly popular podcast Pod Save America. A no-bullshit conversation about politics, Pod Save America cuts through the noise to break down the week’s biggest and dumbest news, …” So, why didn’t you write a book like that?

The only positive thing I can say about this book is short. So at least I didn’t have to waste much time on it.

I give this book an F. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an F equates to 1 star. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on June 26, 2024.