Stephen Colbert might profess to not reading books, but that's not stopping the truthiness purveyor from writing one of his own.
The pompous fake pundit behind the anchor desk of Comedy Central's hit The Colbert Report has signed deal with Warner Books to pen some funny pages, it was announced Tuesday.
Daily Variety values the deal in the seven-figure range.
The book will feature Colbert, in the guise of his poorly informed blowhard persona, poking fun at his usual targets: politicians, rival pundits, liberal Hollywood actors and, of course, his ultimate nemesis--bears.
"This book will have the same noble goal as my television show: to change the world one factual error at a time," Colbert deadpanned in a press release.
Colbert's tome is set to hit stores in the fall of 2007.
Just as The Colbert Report (pronounced in the French way, as "ra-poor") has proved a worthy successor to The Daily Show, where Colbert served as a writer and chief correspondent, the proposed book hopes to attract the same readers who made The Daily Show-branded America (The Book), an instant bestseller.
Unlike America, in which Colbert and several other Daily Show writers collaborated with main man Jon Stewart, or Wigfield, which he coauthored with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello, the freedom-loving Colbert will reportedly go at alone this time around.
But aside from pure greed, we can't quite figure out Colbert's motivation for turning author. After all, this is the guy who proclaimed on air, "I don't trust books. They're all fact and no heart," accompanied by the caption: "Heart good, head bad."
In any case, the 41-year-old comedian famed for his cocked eyebrows, cockeyed ears and razor sharp comebacks has proved his solo star power.
Since launching in October, The Colbert Report, a satirical homage to Bill O'Reilly and the army of cable news talking heads, has retained its Daily Show lead-in audience in the 11:30 p.m. time slot. Comedy Central rewarded the show with a full-season pick up, ensuring Colbert and crew will continue mocking America's sacred cows (and bears) for some time to come. And that's the word.