Win a Copy of “And Nothing But the Truthiness”

We’re working with the wonderful folks over at St. Martins Press to bring you our very first contest here at the Hub!

Your chance to win 1 of 12 copies of Lisa Rogak’s “And Nothing But the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise of Stephen Colbert)”.

The Book

And Nothing But the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise of Stephen Colbert).

Few comedians can generate headlines like Stephen Colbert. With his appearance at a Congressional hearing, his rally in Washington, his bestselling book, his creation of the now accepted word “truthiness”, and of course his popular TV show, nearly everyone (except the poor Congressional fools who agree to be interviewed on his show) has heard of him.

But who is he really? Lisa Rogak gives us a look behind the character. She reveals the roots of his humor and the tragedy that forever altered the family. She charts his early years, especially his close connection with Amy Sedaris that led to the cult TV show and movie Strangers With Candy. And she offers a look inside how The Daily Show and The Colbert Report work.

The Praise

(yet politically influential) cable news show, The Colbert Report, a bitingly satirical parody of the “fair and balanced” approach of conservative Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly. On the other hand, he’s a charitable, devoted family man and gifted comedic actor who has blurred the line between himself and his character so brilliantly that it’s often difficult to separate the two. In this carefully crafted, behind-the-scenes biography, Rogak succeeds in uncovering the “truthiness” about the real Colbert, who suffered unspeakable tragedy at the age of 10, when his father and two brothers died in a plane crash. Rogak gracefully traces Colbert’s Irish Catholic upbringing in Charleston, South Carolina, and his eventual rise to stardom as a popular correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and closeted high-school teacher Chuck Noblet in the cult television series Strangers with Candy, which he created with his longtime friends and writing partners, Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello.”

— Chris Keech, BOOKLIST

Arguably one of the sharpest satirists of his generation, Stephen Colbert is a walking dichotomy: a sorta-liberal whose fictional persona is super-conservative; a public loudmouth and a private family man; a seeming rabblerouser with an intensely religious upbringing. Most viewers are aware that the persona the comic/actor/pundit/author displays on his show and in his bestselling book I Am America (So Can You!) is an act, so this biography is worthwhile in that it gives us insight into the man behind the mouth. The prolific Rogak (Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King, 2009, etc.) has a healthy appreciation for her subject, and the majority of her sources have nothing but good things to say about Colbert both as a person and a performer; she paints him has the smartest guy in the room, a gentleman you’d want to meet for lunch every day. The author does a nice job of balancing the different parts of his life and work, moving briskly from his religious upbringing, to his stints at Second City and on The Daily Show, to his breakthrough on The Colbert Report. (Some more information about his cult show Strangers With Candy would have been welcome.) Logically enough, the majority of the book is devoted to his Comedy Central hit, and fans of the show will appreciate Rogak’s choices in terms of the segments and interviews she focused on.

A solid summation of Colbert’s work and life to this point.”

– KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Rogak (who’s written bios of Shel Silverstein and Stephen King, among many others), traces the trajectory of political satirist Stephen Colbert. She takes her task seriously, having pored through the archives of the Medical University of South Carolina, where Colbert’s father was the vice president for academic affairs. Colbert had an “idyllic childhood,” growing up in a large, close-knit family, but in 1974, when he was 10, his father and two of his older brothers were killed in a plane crash: “Losing a role model so young, his father’s godlike image was ‘trapped in amber.’ ” After attending Northwestern as a theater major, he toured with Second City, developed sketch comedy shows for Comedy Central, and then joined The Daily Show, where he created the news correspondent character he described as “a Bill O’Reilly–like commentator, a very well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot.” When The Colbert Report was launched in 2005, the entire premise was based on that character, and enthusiastic fans will delight in Rogak’s lengthy, detailed behind-the-scenes coverage of both the show and Colbert’s controversial keynote speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The 40 pages of bibliographic notes indicate her extensive research for this engaging, entertaining biography, which succeeds in capturing Colbert’s anarchic, iconoclastic spirit. (Oct.)

—PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

Contest Details

For your chance to win 1 of 12 copies of “And Nothing But the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise of Stephen Colbert)” please tell us what you are most looking forward to with this book.

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Contest winners will be randomly drawn on Friday, October 14th.