Nice! Check this out, Nation, Entertainment Weekly gets a Q&A with Stephen on I Am America (And So Can You!) and gets Stephen to comment on everything from the Colbert Nation to what else he’d like named after him (“Colbertnet Sauvignon”, anyone?):
Birth of a Colbert Nation
Stephen Colbert talks about his new book, ”I Am America (And So Can You!),” sex and dating, and winning a Hungarian bridge-naming contest
By Whitney PastorekSome of you know Stephen Colbert as a former Daily Show correspondent, now hosting his own nightly program, The Colbert Report, on Comedy Central. Some of you know him as the man whose satirical brand of ”conservative” political rhetoric nearly derailed the 2006 White House Press Corps dinner, leading the organization to un-ironically hire Rich Little for 2007′s event.
Some of you know Stephen Colbert as a demigod.
But no matter how you know Stephen Colbert, let’s face it: You don’t know him well enough.
. . .
Would you be willing to walk me through the process of becoming America now, or is that something you’d like to save for when the book comes out?
I think Walt Whitman said it best in Song of Myself. ”What I assume, you shall assume.” And that’s what you need to do. Read the book, be me. Hold my truths to be self-evident. Cause what I’ve written is a constitution for the Colbert Nation.I understand.
Do you?Not really.
Good. ‘Cause if you understood I’d ask you to finish the last three chapters. We’re kind of tired. [Laughs] It covers everything. The book covers the American family. It covers basically the things about America that you should know, in the order you learn them in your life. Family. Pets. Religion. Sex and Dating. The Homosexual Agenda. Higher Education.. . .
I am not sure I would let my parents watch your television program. I’m afraid my dad would actually think you were being serious.
I love when that happens. We actually just had a little bit of that problem when we were writing. Last night we were finishing up the chapter on race in America, and my character doesn’t see race. He’s evolved beyond that. We’re like, how do we deal with this? So we’re about seven pages in, and talking about affirmative action. And LBJ has this famous quote, the famous example that he gave about runners in a race, and one runner has been shackled for the first half of the race, and then they take his shackles off — is it fair to just continue the race? Or would you move the shackled runner forward?And one of the writers came up with this wonderful metaphor, about like, ”Well, no! It’s unfair to have a shackled runner run against an unshackled runner. They should have separate — but equal! — races. You should have a totally different stadium, and different events, and different endorsement deals, and that way you wouldn’t even have to take the shackles off! You could keep them separate!” And I really loved the metaphor, but on the page, like, this really is an endorsement of segregation. And you could read it and go, Jesus, the wrong person could read this and think it’s real. So we took it out. It’s just not stupid enough. It just felt a little too much like what you might hear, still, on certain radio stations. And we were like, you know what? I don’t want that in the book. I don’t want to put that in my character’s mouth. So instead I endorse an all-shackle Olympics. Some people get shackled, some people get to wear sandwich boards. Some people have their pockets stuffed with sausages, and a pack of wild dogs are released.
I can’t wait for this book to come out! For now, however, I’ll have to make do with re-reading my Walt Whitman. (And waiting impatiently for my chance to pick up “Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen Adventures”, naturally!)
“I so much want to put a Mylar mirror in the book! I want my book to be like Pat the Bunny. I want to have a little soft part, and a scratchy part, and don’t get me started about the mirror. Oh! Hours of fun!”
Haha, I could totally hear Stephen saying this and getting very excited. It really cracked me up!!! Although the idea for a chapter written by the heroes really isn’t a bad idea!
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I love the Pat the Bunny reference. Yes, Mylar mirror and an option for the Nation to finish the book!
Just 88 days and 9 hours more with Walt, MsI.
EDIT @Lackadaisical – ok, no fair typing the same thing at the same time, lol!
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“I might just leave the last three chapters blank, and see what I get, and then for the second edition, just put the Nation’s stuff back there.”
Best. Idea. Ever. I wish they’d actually gone with the idea of a blank chapter at the end. That would have been hilarious.
And Pat the Bunny = adorkable. I imagine that those sort of books are part of his regular reading list. :P
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I loved that Pat the Bunny reference, too (did I mention that I spent years working part-time in the children’s department of a book store?); that was fabulous. Sadly, Time magazine’s stupid choice of “YOU” for “Person of the Year” kind of soured me on mylar mirrors, but it was still a great reference.
I’m wildly envious of these people that get to do the extended Q&A sessions with Stephen; even beyond merely having the opportunity to question the man, it’s just that he sounds like he’s having so much *fun* chatting with the interviewer(s). It’s infectious.
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“Some of you know Stephen Colbert as a demigod”
Totally caught me off guard–very funny. I liked the conversational tone of this interview too. Lucky, lucky Whitney.
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Love how he starts asking the interviewer about herself. ^^
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I don’t like the title very much. I guess I’m probably being picky, but doesn’t it suggest an analogous relationship between the Colbert Nation and the Aryan Nation?
Birth of a Nation: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004972/
Well, I don’t mind being “rabid” and “mercenary,”…or even “clannish.” But we’re not “klannish.”
(I’m …overanalyzing again, aren’t I? :)
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A wine named after me, that’d be nice. Maybe ”Colbertnet Sauvignon”?
Oh Stephen *shakes head*
The “youtube, youwrite” idea is brilliant. He should do it! It would add a new twist to book publishing.
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I’m not wild about the title either, barenjager, but I’m just going to play ostrich on this one and bury my head in the ground so far as the D.W. Griffith implications are concerned. After all, the Q&A is such a great read, once you’re past the title.
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Most Adorable Interview Ever.
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You’re right, Ms. I’m sure it was unintentional.
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Congrats.. DB!! is that Hilary Girl the one who is on the book covers he did?
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Oh, I think the title is okay. I take it as more of a play on words than any reference to the film. Kind of like if it had been “Triumph of the Colbert Will.” Maybe because it’s from a title from far in the past, because now that I think about it, some article entitled “Colbert’s List” would be highly inappropriate to me.
eEagle, do you mean the woman on the “romance novel” covers? That was Meg, who is a PA on the show. Hilary is Stephen’s assistant. (These are the things I learn when compulsively reading the credits.) :-)
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“The Colbert Nation is there…Jon always demurs. My character is like, ‘Of course!’ He’s in the front of the parade, with torches and pitchforks. He’s like, ‘Let’s go storm the castle!’
Et Etienne Colbert ne croit pas qu’il a un coeur francais? Happy Bastille Day!
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LOL @ Pat the Bunny and the mylar mirror. Stephen’s next book should be a pop-up book complete with an eagle that jumps out at you from the centerfold. He could also include the mylar mirror and textured pages and sound effects. Oooh….. sound effects!! That would be cool.
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