Publisher’s Weekly talks to Stephen Colbert about ‘I Am America’

As promised, Stephen did a Q&A with Publisher’s Weekly on I Am America (And So Can You!). Some choice bits:

The Complexity of Stephen Colbert
by Jeff Makos — Publishers Weekly, 9/3/2007

In his first book, I Am America (And So Can You!), late-night comedian Stephen Colbert takes on everything that’s destroying America.

. . .

Was it hard to stay in character throughout the writing of I Am America?

It wasn’t hard at all because we wrote the book the same way we write the show, which is essentially through improvisation. Allison Silverman, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello and I were the ultimate editors and the writers of all the material, but we generated it the same way we generate it for the show. We came up with a general take of what we wanted to do, and then we asked the writers, “What would you do on this?” They went off and did an unbelievable job—we have books and books of material that we never used. Every writer and illustrator was a huge contributor to the work.

Were there key things that “Stephen Colbert” wanted to write about?

Some chapters are on classic topics like Hollywood and the media. But a topic like pets and animals, we thought, is just such a big part of life that we had to put it in someplace. Each chapter can be read on its own, but I really hope people will actually read the whole book straight through, because there is a rhyme and reason for our order.

. . .

How do you feel about the book winning the first “Stephen T. Colbert Award for Literary Excellence”?

I’m not surprised, but I’m just as honored. And to win the first one is a particular honor.

Read the full Q&A here