Angry Optimist: The Life and Times of Jon Stewart

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LET’S GET SOMETHING out of the way from the beginning:

Jon Stewart is a bundle of walking contradictions. On the one hand, he makes no bones about exactly how he feels about things at any given moment, delivering his opinions and thoughts to his audience seriously—usually with an eye toward making them laugh—while also hopefully making them question the way the world works.

On the other hand, he is a man who hides in plain sight. Stewart is an enigma who shuns the spotlight, and his contempt for certain people and philosophies sometimes makes him so enraged on the show that he starts to shake and spit.

“[I’m] a bitter little hairy man of comedy,” he has joked.

Actor Denis Leary predicted his friend’s progression way back in 1994 during Stewart’s first talk show: “Jon’s shown more of his nice-guy side so far,” he said. “As the show continues, it will get uglier. Eventually it will just be this raging little Jewish man screaming into the camera.”

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