After spending a year reading a set of encyclopedias, and then another living biblically, what does A.J. Jacobs do for an encore? Well, for the most part, repackage a bunch of his ESQUIRE articles into THE GUINEA PIG DIARIES: MY LIFE AS AN EXPERIMENT.
That’s not to say the collection is bad, but if you’ve already read several of the nine “stunt articles” here, you may feel shortchanged. In these journalistic adventures, Jacobs poses as his hot nanny online to find her a boyfriend worthy of her; outsources his everyday duties (including communication with his wife) to an assistant in India with an imperfect grasp on the English language; and adheres strictly to the “Radical Honesty” movement, in which you say exactly what you mean.
He strips down to pose naked for ESQUIRE at Mary-Louise Parker’s urging; spends some time living life according to George Washington’s rules; trades multitasking for unitasking; and pays back his long-suffering wife for putting up with all of the above by acting as her personal slave.
All of these make for amusing reading, save for one titled “The Rationality Project,” in which Jacobs aims to become the most logical man alive; ironically, it lacks focus. But the rest are funny showcases— sometimes laugh-out-loud so — of his self-deprecating humor, i.e. “I haven’t logged a lot of hours at Bally Total Fitness. And it shows. My chest has an indentation where you could store a half cup of flour.” —Rod Lott
“So a few days later, I find myself in a cab on the way to the studio with the magazine’s design director, who keeps assuring me that there will be nothing edible on my solar plexus and no Mapplethorpian whips in my orifices.”
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY: ONE MAN’S HUMBLE QUEST TO FOLLOW THE BIBLE AS LITERALLY AS POSSIBLE by A.J. Jacobs
