A New York Times Bestseller Since his arrival at The Daily Show , Jon Stewart has become one of the major players in comedy as well as one of the most significant liberal voices in the media. In Angry Optimist , Lisa Rogak follows his unlikely rise to stardom, from his early days growing up in New Jersey, through his years as a struggling stand-up comic in New York, and on to the short-lived but acclaimed The Jon Stewart Show , before at last landing a job as host of a half-hour comedy show that at the time was still finding its footing amidst roiling internal drama. Once there, Stewart transformed into one of the most influential news programs on television today. Drawing on interviews with current and former colleagues and with new material on his departure from , reveals how Jon Stewart has come to wield incredible power in American politics and changed how the news is reported along the way.