Although I’ve heard Bassem Youssef referred to as “The Jon Stewart of the Arabic World”, I honestly didn’t know too much about him prior to reading this book. I used to be a die hard Daily Show fanatic, but I sort of stopped watching when Jon went on sabbatical and never went back. Reading Revolution for Dummies definitely enlightened me on quite a bit, but the book itself was not as interesting as I expected/hoped.
Youssef, a plastic surgeon in Egypt, risked life and limb to host a satirical YouTube channel that eventually became a news program (Al-Bernameg, or The Program). He used his media presence to shed light on the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, a very dangerous but important thing to do. Revolution for Dummies chronicles this time in Egypt (the so-called Arab Spring), and how dangerous it was for Youssef to speak up in his homeland.