The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

A. J. Jacobs has once again found that perfect balance of wit and wisdom, this time in "The Guinea Pig Diaries".

In the familiar style he perfected in "The Know It All" and "The Year of Living Biblically" Jacobs takes us through his life as a series of "experiments", from outsourcing to India such daily routines as reading bedtime stories to his young children to trying to live according to the 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour" that George Washington formulated for himself as a young man. In the chapter "The Truth About Nakedness" Jacobs shares with us the full range of emotions he experienced while posing nude for an Esquire Magazine (his employer) photo shoot in order to induce Mary Louise Parker to similarly pose (the book includes only the photo of the writer).
And his effort to become a disciplined "unitasker" by (among other matters) reciting out loud (seemingly to to himself) his shopping list while in the supermarket, and the reactions of bystanding shoppers, was among the many moments of droll humor in the book.
Perhaps my personal favorite of the Jacobs experiments was "The Rationality Project", his effort to identify, as rationally as possible, the "right" toothpaste from among the 40 or so on the shelf. To do so, Jacobs explains the need to remove from the decision making process the "Halo Effect", the "Availability Fallacy", "Confirmation Bias", the"Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy" and other of the "irrational biases and Darwinian anachronisms" that influence all of us in making the most mundane of our choices.
And once again it is his wife Julie who, in her long-suffering style, provides the necessary dose of reality to bring his over-the-top eccentricities back down to earth.
Fans of A. J. Jacobs will once again be amply rewarded.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Open Den

.....

A J Jacobs RULES!

Let's get something straight: A J Jacobs did not pay me to write this review. Nobody can pay me enough to make me like a book. I read with delight both of Jacob's previews books, and I squealed with joy when I found this in the Nook store. It was an instant purchase. Jacobs walks us through a series of experiments that are funny, mindbending, a little poignant sometimes and very enlightening. His charm and wit are totally intact, plus you get the added treat of reading things from his wife Julie's point of view. Pick it up! You will not be able to put this book down until you've read the final page.

Mostly Entertaining Collection of Short Experiments

A.J. Jacobs returns to his forte - immersion journalism - by changing the way he lives his life. However, rather than conduct a year-long experiment -- as he did in "The Know-It-All" and "The Year of Living Biblically" -- the experiments in this book each last for about a month at a time.

The presentation of the material is greatly helped by this shorter time-span. In both of his previous efforts, I felt that, in the last few months, he lost his momentum or his motivation, which translated into a dry, rushed narrative at the end, seemingly to "get it over with." Not so, here. Each month serving as a different experiment, each chapter has an introduction to the topic, several pages on his experiences, and his reflections at the end of the month. Simple format, entertaining to read.

Two of the experiments really stand out as laugh-out-loud funny. First, the month during which he outsourced the majority of his life to India, inadvertently creating an industry in the process. Second, the month living by George Washington's rules of etiquette; though this was not so much because of his experiences, but rather because of the characters he encounters in his research.

The book is short, and the format makes it easy to pick up, read a chapter, then come back later for another chapter. All in all I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good chuckle.

Great book

This book was so unique and entertaining. The situations are hillarious and thought provoking. Great read.

AJ Jacobs is one of my favorites

This isn't as good as his other two books, because it's kind of choppy. A bunch of mini-books instead of one long experiment. However - some of the chapters are stand-out keepers. Made me laugh. This is really a fun read.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.