Satire, the most honest form of writing

In History 351 we read an excerpt from Homo Sovieticus by Zinoviev and a student asked what exactly was satirical about it. In my explanation, I let slip that satires were the most honest genre. I was thinking that satires don't pretend to be anything they're not, that is, they acknolwedge that aren't accurately portraying or relating the ideas contained within them.