Overview

Andy Borowitz, one of the funniest people in America (CBS Sunday Morning), brilliantly examines the intellectual deterioration of American politics, from Ronald Reagan to Dan Quayle, from George W. Bush to Sarah Palin, to its apotheosis in Donald J. Trump.The winner of the first-ever National Press Club award for humor, Andy Borowitz has been called a Swiftian satirist (The Wall Street Journal) and one of the country's finest satirists (The New York Times). Millions of fans and New Yorker readers enjoy his satirical news column The Borowitz Report. Now, in Profiles in Ignorance, he offers a witty, spot-on diagnosis of our country's political troubles by showing how ignorant leaders are degrading, embarrassing, and endangering our nation. Borowitz argues that over the past fifty years, American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking. Starting with Ronald Reagan's first campaign for governor of California in 1966 and culminating with the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House, Borowitz shows how, during the age of 24-hour news and social media, the US has elected politicians to positions of great power whose lack of the most basic information is terrifying. In addition to Reagan, Quayle, Bush, Palin, and Trump, Borowitz covers a host of congresspersons, senators, and governors who have helped lower the bar over the past five decades. Profiles in Ignorance aims to make us both laugh and cry: laugh at the idiotic antics of these public figures, and cry at the cataclysms these icons of ignorance have caused. But most importantly, the book delivers a call to action and a cause for optimism: History doesn't move in a straight line, and we can change course if we act now.

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9781797147604

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Reviews

How did we slide into the abyss of liking our politicians to be--or to act--dumb rather than smart? In this funny but serious book, Andy Borowitz chronicles our embrace of anti-intellectualism. -- Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author This is one of these brilliant books that makes you laugh until you cry. Borowitz masterfully throws light (and shade) on the confederacy of dunces who have fumbled their way into power. His writing has never been smarter, sharper, or more necessary. -- Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author

Author Information

"Andy Borowitz is an award-winning comedian and New York Times bestselling author. As a comedian, he has played to sold-out venues around the world, including during his 2018 to 2020 national tour, ""Make America Not Embarrassing Again."" He is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club's humor award. He graduated from Harvard College, where he became president of the Harvard Lampoon. In 1998, he began contributing humor to the New Yorker's ""Shouts & Murmurs"" and ""Talk of the Town"" departments, and in 2001, he created ""The Borowitz Report,"" a satirical news column, which has millions of readers around the world. In 2012, the New Yorker began publishing ""The Borowitz Report."" As a storyteller, he hosted ""Stories at the Moth"" from 1999 to 2009. Andy Borowitz is an award-winning comedian and New York Times bestselling author. As a comedian, he has played to sold-out venues around the world, including during his 2018 to 2020 national tour, ""Make America Not Embarrassing Again."" He is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club's humor award. He graduated from Harvard College, where he became president of the Harvard Lampoon. In 1998, he began contributing humor to the New Yorker's ""Shouts & Murmurs"" and ""Talk of the Town"" departments, and in 2001, he created ""The Borowitz Report,"" a satirical news column, which has millions of readers around the world. In 2012, the New Yorker began publishing ""The Borowitz Report."" As a storyteller, he hosted ""Stories at the Moth"" from 1999 to 2009."

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