Earth (The Audiobook): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race

by Jon Stewart, John Oliver (Narrator), Samantha Bee (Narrator)

The eagerly awaited new book from the Emmy-winning, Oscar-hosting, Daily Show-anchoring Jon Stewart--the man behind the megaseller America (The Book).

Where do we come from? Who created us? Why are we here? These questions have puzzled us since the dawn of time, but when it became apparent to Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show that the world was about to end, they embarked on a massive mission to write a book that summed up the human race: What we looked like; what we accomplished; our achievements in society, government, religion, science and culture -- all in a tome of approximately 304 pages with lots of color photos, graphs and charts.

After two weeks of hard work, they had their book. EARTH (The Book) is the definitive guide to our species. With their trademark wit, irreverence, and intelligence, Stewart and his team will posthumously answer all of life's most hard-hitting questions, completely unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity, or even accuracy

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Comedy, Audiobook, Politics, History, Satire

Audiobook

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Jon Stewart is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is a host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program on Comedy Central, and previously hosted from 1999 to 2015, before returning as a host of the show in 2024. He hosted The Problem with Jon Stewart (2021–2023) on Apple TV+. Stewart has received numerous accolades, including 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and five Peabody Awards. He was honored with the Bronze Medallion in 2019, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2022.
Stewart started as a stand-up comedian but branched into television as host of Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central. He went on to host You Wrote It, You Watch It (1992–1993) and then The Jon Stewart Show (1993–1995), both on MTV, until The Jon Stewart Show was retooled, dropped by the network and moved to syndication. He has also appeared in several films, including Big Daddy (1999) and Death to Smoochy (2002). Stewart became host of The Daily Show in 1999, where he also was a writer and co-executive producer. Since he joined, The Daily Show steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim, and during his tenure won numerous Emmy Awards and was nominated for news and journalism awards.
Stewart hosted the 78th and 80th Academy Awards. He is the co-author of the best-selling satirical books America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction in 2004, and Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race in 2010. He executive produced The Colbert Report (2005–2014), The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (2015–2016), and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015–present). In January 2024, it was announced that he would return to The Daily Show for Monday episodes, as well as in the role of an executive producer.
Since leaving The Daily Show, Stewart has maintained a low profile in entertainment industry circles, but has used his celebrity and voice in a sustained advocacy for 9/11 first responders and war veterans' health benefits. In 2019, he received the New York City Bronze Medallion for his "tireless advocacy, inspiration, and leadership (helping to) pass the permanent authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act". He continued using his platform as an advocate for veterans by being instrumental in helping pass the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which expands healthcare access and funding to veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service including burn pits.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jon Stewart, the primary editor of this book, is an American comedian, writer, director, producer, actor, and political commentator. He was host of 'The Daily Show' from 1999 to 2015.


Jon Stewart

I listened to the audiobook version of this narrative, which is a tongue-in-cheek guide for aliens that visit the Earth after humans are extinct.

The book is written by Jon Stewart, Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Bloomquist, Steve Bodow, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac, and Hallie Haglund. The audio version is narrated by Jon Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, Samantha Bee, Wyatt Cenac, Jason Jones, and John Oliver.

***

The narrative briefly covers the planet Earth, the Solar System, and everything related to humankind, including: our life cycle, society, commerce, religion, science, and culture. The chapters are uneven, with laugh-out-loud sections and dry sections, but the book is worth reading for the novelty if nothing else.

The premise is that humans have 'sucked the Earth dry' and caused their own extinction. People who saw this coming had the option of sending their DNA (via a plucked hair) to one of two collection facilities: the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway (which preserves agricultural seeds) or Trementina Base in New Mexico (which preserves Scientology writings and films).


Svalbard Global Seed Vault


Trementina Base

The stored DNA would provide a chance of being resurrected by the aliens, if and when they arrive.

>

I'll give examples of some observations in the book, to give a feel for the content and humor.

***

As an introduction, the authors describe the geology, geography, and history of the planet.....and the shift from thinking we're the center of the solar system - geocentrism ('egocentrism') to accepting that we orbit the sun - heliocentrism. The book then goes on to describe the planets, throwing a bit of shade on realtors by calling Mercury "solar adjacent."



***

If the Earth's history is squeezed into 24 hours, man has been present for the last minute. Thus at 11:59 PM, "In strolls the most incredible creature anyone's ever seen....moves in, redecorates the joint, and eats half the guests before the ball drops."



*****

"College is where our brightest 18 to 21-year-olds are hotbeds of experimentation - educational, chemical, sexual, and most annoyingly political. After four years of living in this fake world you were considered prepared to live in the real one. This experience would cost your parents or you $200,000 unless you were good at throwing an orange ball into a round hoop, in which case it was free."



****

We were social creatures who functioned best living in groups, called a society. Nomadic tribes were "ones step up from a single family, bound by bloodlines or a shared appreciation for Jerry Garcia."



***

“Pigmentation was a quick and convenient way of judging a person. One of us, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once proposed we instead judge people by the content of their character. He was shot."




***

"The mechanism by which people ruled was called an election. This was a series of discrete events encompassing nominations, rallies, and backroom deals that completely dominated the news of the day.....





.....unless someone famous got married, divorced or died."



***

"There was no commercial principal more elementary than that it was good to sell a thing for more money than you bought it for. Doing so produced a profit that meant you were incredibly smart. Failure to do so produced a loss which meant your broker was an idiot."



***

Description of work: "That which we didn't want to do but had to if we didn't want to eat dirt."



***

Explanation of religion: "Awareness led us to the realization that we die. The fear of death and the terrible uncertainty of existence led early man to seek comfort or at least assurance in the supernatural who created us: How does the sun travel through the sky? Why does it burn when I urinate?" ("Because you have dick anthrax!")



***

"Scientists were the most esteemed members of civilization. The only people more renowned than scientists were actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, game show hosts, heiresses, religious leaders, cartoonists, plumbers, serial killers, celebrity chefs, and women who looked good in swimsuits."



***

"Throughout the remains of the developed world you'll find facilities filled with what appear to be torture devices. These were gyms."



***

The book is interspersed with FAQs (Future Alien Questions) such as:
Why are there so many buildings that say Trump?
Was it better to be a man or a woman?
Did humans ever discover the wormholes that make interstellar travel quick and easy? (SAY WHAT?)

***

I expected the book to be clever and entertaining, and it was. But only mildly. Still, the audiobook is a pleasant way to wile away a few hours while driving, running errands, doing the laundry, etc.



You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

[Mirjana **DTR - Down to Read** · Rating 3 out of 5]

***3 Stars***

***Listened to the Audiobook***



This had its funny moments (especially the FAQ's - Future Alien Questions) and Jon Stewart's dry and snarky delivery is spot on, but all of that was overshadowed by the awkward way this book was put together. It's just a bunch of short chapters briefly discussing various topics. There's no particular order things are presented and I felt like we were just bouncing along from topic to topic without any sense of direction.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a mad crush on Jon Stewart. I don't think there has been more than one or two things that I have disagreed with him on and I laugh hysterically when I watch the Daily Show. I loved America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction so I am very disappointed that this one fell flat. I actually found it tedious, perhaps because everything is in the form of captions and jumping around gets tiring after awhile. I'm afraid this turned out to be as exciting as I Am America (another HUGE disappointment) which was slightly less funny than Helter Skelter or Hamlet.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise is that this book is written for aliens who might come to earth and act as archaeologists, exploring earth and what’s left of its previous inhabitants, previous because homo sapiens no longer exist. Funny stuff. Pokes fun at everyone and everything.

Laughing, smiling, groaning, averting eyes, glued to the page, parody and satire that is crass at times and almost always brilliant.

Periodic Table of the Synthetic and way too much else to share. If you enjoy black, dark, out there, and silly humor, and don’t mind sometimes vulgar humor, and appreciate Jon Stewart’s/The Daily Show’s type of humor, this book is worth reading. There are many really wonderful photographs and also some forms, etc. that are funny and/or informative. The photos/pictures/forms work with the text; they wouldn’t work anywhere near as well without the other.

There is much 5 star worthy content but the material is uneven and there is enough sub-par not so funny inclusions that can’t quite give it 5 stars, even though I liked it better than America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction and many parts were as funny as The Daily Show and Jon Stewart, and I think he’s incredibly bright and often hilarious. It’s actually difficult for me to not give it 5 stars because there is probably enough material to make up a book that I would rate 5 stars, but then there’s the 4 and 3 and 2 and 1 star stuff, not a lot of the 2 and 1, but it’s there.

I did thoroughly enjoy reading this though! For me, 4 ½ stars.

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moderately funny, mostly a disappointment. Tongue-in-cheek? Yes. Very Original? No. Most jokes were cliches and the aliens would have slept off on reading this drab work and gotten all the wrong impressions about the literary talents of this planet.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jon Stewart seeks to answer the world's most important questions about our existence and desires as we go about our days on this little place called Earth.

He treats this book as if he's writing to an alien species as they struggle to understand and breakdown the various quirks of the human race.

"The 30% of our planet that was not covered in water was called dry land, and this is where we preferred to spend most of our time."

The cover broad topics such as Society, Commerce, and Culture, and delve into the nitty gritty science of the Life Cycle and Earth (in general). I was impressed by the pretty solid scientific explanations and the way the writers always paired them with a quick joke.

"Our observation of the planets' regular motion was the first triumph of empirical science over irrational dogma. We named them after gods, just to be safe."

Just as a note, I read this one shortly after A Short History of Nearly Everything and noticed quite a few parallels right off the bat.

If you want a more serious (with a few jokes sprinkled in) take, go with Bill Bryson's book. If you want joke-after-joke but still to learn some things, then this is the book for you!

Also, kudos to Stewart, who was never afraid to call them as he saw them.

"A Trump was a demon who sometimes appeared to us in quasi-human form in order to fire us from jobs we never wanted in the first place."

Audiobook Comments
Jon Stewart read his own audiobook and rocked it.

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I hear about this book while watching Oprah, I knew it had to be funny and well worth a read. I was right!
From the beginning, you get a sense of Jon Stewart's humor. You see, this book is geared to aliens. So you have to imagine that they really exist and need a brochure while visiting. This would be that brochure!
Brilliant!
That is my lasting impression, besides hilarious, witty, fun and sometimes true.
Definitely one I recommend to all adults.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

While on the surface this audiobook might seem like 3 hours of good laughs, it did win a Grammy for “Best Spoken Word Album.” There is lots of great sarcasm and irony here, but there is also a deeper commentary on humans as a species that actually made me stop and think for awhile. For example, Stewart points out that we are the only animals that are actually aware of our own mortality, and yet don’t deal with the knowledge very well. I love this exchange from the end of the “The Life Cycle” chapter under FAQs—“Future Alien Questions”:

Q: How did humans cope with the finality of death—the knowledge that one day, they and all their accumulated knowledge and experiences would be lost from the earth?
A: We tried not to think about it.

Q: Seriously though—that must’ve been hard not to think about. One day, you’re there, and the next—pfft! You’re gone.
A: Can we talk about something else?

Q: But given that knowledge, how did you justify wasting your time on unimportant things when every minute brought you that much closer to—
A: Hey, look! Another chapter!

[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, since I do enjoy The Daily Show. However, the book just left me with a lukewarm feeling. It was not bad; it just was not that good. Sure, it had humorous moments here and there, and I think the premise of "a handbook for aliens visiting Earth" was pretty good. But a lot of the humor seems pushed, like trying a bit too hard. This is definitely a book to skip around and browse, not one to read cover to cover. Just find your favorite parts and enjoy, skip the rest. Another reason I was disappointed is because I liked America(The Book) (which I reviewed here too). This just did not live up to that. So, read it if you are a real fan of the show, or if you feel a need to keep up after reading the other one. This is one to borrow, not buy.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really is the "Visitor's Guide to the Human Race." With its large, colorful pictures and graphics and chapter headings ("Earth," "Religion," "Science," "Culture"), someone not familiar with Jon Stewart (or aliens from another galaxy) could be forgiven for thinking this is an abridged encyclopedia. Of course, that is also the problem with this book: it's basically an encyclopedia with snarky jokes. After a while, it's exhausting.

Jon Stewart and his writing staff present this book as a guide to aliens visiting Earth for the first time. All life on Earth (at least, all human life) is extinct. We probably killed ourselves off due to our own folly (I'm betting on that rather than a Star Trek-like future). However we disappeared, we are now extinct and so this book is a guide to human culture. Along with the (surprisingly detailed) information, the authors also supplied sarcasm and tons of jokes--jokes that probably the alien readers would not understand.

This is not a book to read straight through. It's more of a "pick up and browse" book due to the immense quantities of information and humorous commentary based on that information. You obviously (I hope it's obvious) wouldn't use this book as an actual information source; it's more of a humorous interpretation of a topic. The humor of this book is very similar to the format of The Daily Show: in order to recognize the humor, you have to be familiar with/have knowledge of the topic. In the Religion chapter, there is a section about Islam. Under a picture of President Obama taking the oath of office, there is this caption: "Islam's political power skyrocketed after a practicing secret Muslim was elected President of the United States" (154). Ha!

If you're a fan of Jon Stewart and miss him, this is a fun book to browse. I'll keep it to cheer me up after watching yet another news story about the current president and his abhorrent tweets.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A while back Jon Stewart and the other writers from the popular The Daily Show with Jon Stewart wrote a parody of high school Social Studies textbooks called America (The Book): A Guide to Democracy Inaction. That was a great piece of satire because it lambasted something most Americans were familiar with and it had a structurally solid skeleton on which to drape its parody. We all knew what he was talking about, or at least we knew we should know, which was often kind of the point. It had a target that was specific enough to structure a book around, but multifaceted enough to offer plenty of material. Earth (The Book) is also pretty funny in places, but note quite as much so as its predecessor, partially owing to the fact that it’s kind of a mess and doesn’t have much of a structure.

Stewart et al. cast Earth (The Book) as a guide for the benefit of alien visitors who arrive on our 3rd planet from the Sun after the human race has managed to annihilate itself in one way or another. Kind of a friendly guide book aiming to hit the highlights. None of us will be here to explain all the stuff they’ll find in the ruins, so it falls to this tome to explain not only cover the basics like Earth’s geology and weather, but also such inexplicable nonsense (to an outsider, anyway) like commerce, culture, religion, art, and science. Rather than large paragraphs of text, the book relies on a lot of gags derived from pictures, fake newsclippings, charts, photographs, and other visual aids with scattershots of text to go along with them. This being a Daily Show production, every page oozes irony, sarcasm, and humorous self-deprecation, and it often works. Noting on the page about film that “We called Hollywood the Dream Factory; unfortunately most people who went to work there ended up working at the Cheesecake Factory” is pretty witty, as is crediting Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of “The Watson Summoner.” And there’s lots of stuff like that spread throughout the book.

Unfortunately, Earth (The Book) is fairly uneven, with a few too many of the jokes falling flat or relying too much on the same gag that you had just read a dozen pages earlier. The graphic-heavy nature of the pages also make the book tiring to read in long sittings, but you may get much better experiences out of it by just reading it a page or three at a time when you find yourself with a few spare moments. Whenever that might be. I’m not judging.

In the end, Earth (The Book) is worth reading if you’re a fan of Stewart’s (and probably more to the point, his writers’) brand of irony comedic self immolation. America (The Book) worked much better both as a concept and in execution, though, so if you haven’t read that one yet I’d start there.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve already read America (The Book), then you’ll have some idea of what to expect from this. Earth is written assuming that humanity has gone extinct, and is addressed to a hypothetical alien race that finds the book in the ruins. It's as decent an excuse as any for attempting to summarize the planet and the entirety of human civilization in a single volume as any.

Obviously, the book is lots of fun. There are jokes galore, and nothing seems to be off-limits. It's an inclusive humor, though, the kind that says, “Yes, I'm laughing at this ridiculous thing you've done, but you know what? I’ve done this thing myself. We all have. Isn't humanity a ridiculous species in general?” The writers seem to be at their most savagely satirical when the humor is directed at themselves.

After America and Earth, I kind of wonder where they would have gone next with this series? The Solar System (The Book)? Anyway, I found it quite enjoyable. Recommended!

[Lil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was short! But a really great listen with Jason and Samantha and John and Wyatt joining Jon for this romp. Man I miss this bunch!

[Meagan Cahuasqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining book. It was published 9 years ago and somehow a lot of the material is still stupid relevant. Some jokes didn't quite land and in fact made me cringe a bit, but eh, that's comedy. I did appreciate the refresher on stuff I learned in school though.

[Gary Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

38th book read in 2017.

Number 468 out of 603 on my all time book list.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just pure entertainment, and if you enjoy Jon Stewart's type of humor, you will love this read! Written as a guide for aliens who arrive at our planet after we have gone extinct, it covers so much of our life's absurdities and pokes fun at so much that we do that it ends up actually being very thought-provoking. I read this during the reading of two other books, because let's face it, this is not a heavy piece of literature, with a difficult plot, but just fun. Highly recommended for those who need a good laugh!

[Ruba AlTurki · Rating 4 out of 5]

طيب، كما هو واضح نسختي كانت أوديو.. نظراً لعدم توفر الكتاب في السعودية على حد علمي.
مضحك؟ نعم، إستعراض لكل ماقد يحتاج كائن فضائي لأن يعرفه عن الأرض ومن -كان- عليها بطريقة تهكمية مضحكة ومختصرة.
من الأسهل أن اشرح سبب نقصان هذه النجوم بكلمة إجحاف ربما، ليس بالمستغرب ولكن توقعت الأفضل من جون ربما؟ ليس في حق الدين فقط مع أنه ليس بقليل.
أولاً الكتاب مقسم لفصول متعددة قصيرة، علي أن أوضح أن الكتاب الورقي بالتأكيد يختلف عن نسختي السمعية.. حيث أن الكتاب يشتمل على العديد من الصور والتي قد تكون السبب الأساس لعدم توفر الكتاب.. فقد اطلعت على عجل على نسخة رقمية.
أقسام الكتاب عبارة عن.. أولا مقدمة للفضائيين تتبعها مقدمة للبشر ههه .. ثم الأرض موقعاً و جغرافيا..الخ تتبعها الحياة، الانسان، دورة الحياة، المجتمع، الدين،العلم،الثقافة،وافكار اخيرة
الإجحاف أو عدم الإنصاف تمثل في نقطتين اساسيتين:
ربط الإسلام بالعنف؟ حقاً لم اتصور انه بالذات سينحدر لهذه الدرجة.. يعني لشخص بهذه المعرفة وسعة الاطلاع ان يفهم اولا ان العنف ليس كما يصوره الاعلام وغيره، وان الاديان الاخرى ليست بالبريئة ايضا؟ يعني حلال عليهم حرام علينا او ماذا بالضبط؟ هذه النظرة المتحيزة ضد الاسلام بشكل غبي وغير منطقي تزعجني جداً
الثانية في فصل العلم.. لم يذكر ولا اسم او تلميح حتى للمسلمين، قد يكون فعله هذا عادياً و شعوري هذا متحيزاً لكن هذه مرجعتي وهذا ما اعتقده:)
على العموم استمتعت وضحكت كثيراً مع هذا الكتاب وربما لو توفرت نسخة ورقية منقحة منه قد احاول الحصول عليها.

[Marigold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious silliness from Jon Stewart! Aliens, if you come to Earth & find us all gone, you can use this book to find out Everything You Need to Know About Humanity but Were Too Busy Picking Up Our Mess To Ask. That is the premise of the book. I read the Actual Book (I know - call me a Luddite, whatever, yawn). It's arranged like a textbook, with plenty of pictures, & categories for easy reference such as Clothing, Villages, Trade, Investing ("The skilled investor had to balance the potential reward of great profits and short-lived joy against the risk of loss and permanent sadness. This is why the very best investors were unfeeling sociopaths."), Religion, Science, etc. There is something that will make you Laugh Out Loud on every page! Alert - because this is Jon's humor, there's great potential for finding something among the pages that you will find insulting and/or offensive, & here's something under the category of Books, that will be insulting to many of you! "Ongoing serials were perfect for shy readers who were uncomfortable meeting new protagonists. They were considered a gateway drug for actual literature."

Heh, heh!!

If you like Jon Stewart & The Daily Show, you'll love this book. If not, then I Wish You Good Day, Sir or Ma'am!

[melydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is written as a book for future aliens who come across our planet long after humanity has destroyed itself. It covers most aspects of human life, from politics to art to history to science to religion, and it's all hilarious. Definitely recommended.

A note on the audio: The audio presentation is inspired. Between the music and sound effects and various narrators (including, oddly enough, Sigourney Weaver), the whole thing has the atmosphere of a museum documentary. The juxtaposition of the silly jokes against this backdrop make them just that much funnier.

[Jay Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carol and I are such fans of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show that we each bought a copy of this book as a gift for the other -- one audiotape, one text. That alone should justify 4 stars. But the true justification for the fourth star was the joy to see Carol enjoy the coffee-table version -- from giggles to "wine out the nose" guffaws.

Unlike most books on tape, reading "Earth" and listening to Jon Stewart and the other Daily Show cast members are two distinct experiences and pleasures. Now, I'm either justifying the cost of having two versions or its the truth. I can never tell.

My favorite piece of a generally inspired whole is the comparing and contrasting of the place religion and science each have in the human story. No other aspects of human endeavor can account for more human suffering justified by protecting us from the human suffering envisioned by its competing adherents.

If that doesn't make sense, then, at least, you'd probably like the frequent references to things you thought were funny in grade school, like Uranus and Lake Titicaca.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - rounded up. I listened to the audiobook while I walked my dog and I really liked the narration by Jon Stewart. All in all, this book had its funny moments (especially the FAQ's - Future Alien Questions) and the classic Stewart dry and snarky delivery is spot on. It is written assuming that humanity has gone extinct, and is addressed to a hypothetical alien race that finds the book in the ruins. Sort of a travel guide to help aliens figure out what went on when humans populated the earth. There are jokes everywhere and nothing is off-limits. Earth was amusing, but not hilarious. I chuckled fairly frequently, but I only laughed out loud on the odd occasion. Some jokes didn't quite land and in fact, made me cringe a bit. It wasn't up to what I expected from Jon Stewart and although I found it to be funny and often sarcastic, it was missing a lot of the wit that I enjoyed on The Daily Show.

[Gendou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hit and miss comedy, worth it, but painfully ignorant at times.
The concept of the book is interesting: it is a message to future alien visitors, who's arrival comes too late for us to meet them in the flesh.
Instead, Stewart explains why we've long become extinct, and what we were like. With so much potential, I was disappointing they didn't do more with it. Predictably, the central focus was on how flawed human beings are. The authors seemed to miss all the interesting similarities and differences that the aliens would actually care about! I, like the aliens, got bored with politics.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw that this audiobook had won a Grammy, I thought it must be great. I mean, the always hysterical Jon Stewart bringing it at Grammy level - this I've got to see (well, um, hear). For me though, Earth was amusing, but not hilarious. I chuckled fairly frequently, but I only laughed out loud on odd occasion. As someone who has had to pull over to avoid certain death by fiery crash when listening to David Sedaris, it is not that I don't like comedy audio books, this one just felt a little forced. Still, I think there is enough good to warrant a listen.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Gingerbread deathcamps." For some reason, this phrase makes me laugh.

It's not every day I can say to my husband, "Hey, wanna see a nude photo of Larry King?" This book made that possible. Yes, I know it's a faked photo. But Larry should thank this book's authors . . . and Photoshop.

Also, I loved that the list of iPhone apps included not only a compass (caption: "Which direction am I facing?") but also a moral compass (caption: "Why did I steal this iPhone?").

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confession time... I did not actually finish this book. It started out fairly humorous, but eventually I noticed that the whole book was just a compilation of variations on the same handful of jokes. I got bored after awhile, and when I am reading something that is supposed to be funny that is an especially bad thing. I have concluded that Jon Stewart humor is best enjoyed in 30 minutes increments.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were a few slightly funny bits in this book, and there were a few insights delivered with that sharp satire that Jon Stewart and his team do so well. But for the most part, I found this book to be really boring. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

[Holly Ristau · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. It just wasn't funny.

[Marcus Hutchens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and entertaining - finished it in one sitting and enjoyed it. =] 4/5

[Marinela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I'm a big fan of Jon Stewart and I remember that I found his other book America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy really hilarious. That being said, I decided to go with the audiobook because it's narrated by Jon Stewart himself and it was still funny, but I expected a bit more.
I guess my main problem is that I felt like it jumped from topic to topic, but that may be because it's a guide and I suppose the idea was to cram as much information as possible. The humour is tongue-in-cheek as I expected.
By far, my favourite part was the FAQ, because it is an interesting point - having a chapter that describes various parts of human history and then having aliens ask about it. I wouldn't say that the questions were ground-breaking in any case, but then again I am really late when it comes to reading this book, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and if you like sarcastic, witty commentary on contemporary life, I'd give this audiobook a chance.

[Behrooz Parhami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the unabridged MP3 audiobook version of this title (read by Jon Stewart and others, Hachette Audio, 2010).

The expansion of scope from Stewart’s earlier book, "America," to "Earth" in this book, may suggest that some future book of his will be titled "Galaxy" and then, perhaps, "Universe"! As expected, there is a great deal of smart writing in the book, but there’s also filler material to expand the main ideas (barely) into a book-length presentation.

The book’s premise is that humans, realizing that they will soon vanish from the face of Earth, start writing down some answers to questions that the eventual alien visitors might have about us and our habitat, when they arrive. The print version of the book apparently has many color photographs, graphs, and charts.

Much of the book follows the format of a dictionary or glossary, with typical entries being of the following kinds (example entries are abbreviated and paraphrased).

RELIGION: We are the only species that realizes life does not last forever. This leaves us two options. (a) Find comfort in life as a transitory and purposeless side show. (b) Find comfort in death as a doorway to a far richer and fulfilling state of being. We mostly went with (b), that is, God and religion. Religion tells us that we were created for a reason: To be grateful for being created and to kiss God’s ass at every opportunity!

FASTER: Smaller’s more demanding technology twin. You’d think we would be endlessly grateful for travel time from New York to San Francisco having been cut from 6 months to 6 hours in less than 100 years. Far from it, we tend to complain about every small delay or wait that we encounter. The only thing that exceeds the speed of technological progress is the speed with which we get irritated at its now relative slowness!

This is an enjoyable listen/read, not just for fans of Stewart’s brand of humor, but for everyone else as well. It is a rare comic work that makes one think seriously about what we are doing to our environment and how close we are to the brink of extinction.