Meet The Guinea Pig

I almost feel bad writing about meeting A.J. Jacobs last night, since those of you in Kansas City won’t have the opportunity to meet him until he comes through town on his next book tour, but you can read his books. Let me rephrase that, you must read his books. And if you don’t live in Kansas City, check out his website to see when he’ll be in your area.

A.J. Jacobs writes laugh-out-loud, insightful stories about all facets of Everyman from his (A.J.’s) unique perspective and without fear of skewering the sacred cows in his path. He doesn’t even spare himself (particularly doesn’t spare himself) in his quest to learn something new or expose the foibles in our collective thinking. He’s one of my favorite writers, and now he is one of my favorite writers to hear in person.

His presentation last night at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library was as funny and engaging as his writing; and his demeanor, during the book signing afterwards, was far more gracious that one would ever expect from a man who was in Denver the previous day and had to be in Washington D.C. the following day. If the rigors of a book tour are grueling, you’d never know it from talking to A.J. He seemed genuinely glad to be in Kansas City and to meet and spend time visiting with his fans.

On this particular tour, A.J. is promoting his newest book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment in which he subjects himself to and then writes about nine different social experiments that force him to step outside–sometimes waaay outside–his (or most anyone else’s) comfort zone. For example, for one month, he vows to tell the truth. No white lies. No half truths. No sugar-coating. Yeah. It’s painful. And hilarious. He also poses nude for his art and spends a month doing everything his wife tells him to do…but that’s all you’re getting out me. READ the book!

The first book A.J. wrote was titled The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. For one year, he read–not skimmed, not merely looked at the pictures–but read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z, and then he wrote about the experience, including how he felt about his overwhelming (albeit self-imposed) task, what he learned from his reading, and how he applied–or attempted to apply–what he’d learned. It’s a hoot! Plus you get the added benefit of learning any number of sometimes helpful–often useless–factoids from the revered collection without having to lug one of the huge tomes around yourself.

And finally, not content with being the smartest person in the world, A.J. then undertook the task of becoming as holy as humanly possible. The result, his second book: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. Image walking the streets of Manhattan in a wool robe and sandals…with a full beard…carrying a staff. It gets worse. He also has to stone an adulterer.

READ the books!