ARCHIVED REVIEW: The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment (6/30/11)

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

by A.J. Jacobs

"The goal is that you're able to keep the good parts and not descend into insanity. That the pain of the experiment will end up making life better in the end. And that your spouse will forgive you. For, as I've been told many times, my wife is a saint. A saint, I might add, who doesn't tolerate these experiments lying down."

List of some of A.J.'s experiments in this book (from goodreads):

• He outsources his life. A.J. hires a team of people in Bangalore, India, to take care of everything in his life from answering his e-mails to arguing with his spouse.

• He spends a month practicing Radical Honesty -- a movement that encourages us to remove the filters between our brains and mouths. (To give you an idea of what happened, the name of the chapter is "I Think You're Fat.")

• He goes to the Academy Awards disguised as a movie star to understand the strange and warping effects of fame.

• He commits himself to ultimate rationality, using cutting-edge science to make the best decisions possible. It changes the way he makes choices big and small, from what to buy at the grocery store to how to talk to his kids. And his revelations will change how you make decisions, too.

• He attempts to follow George Washington's rules of life, uncovering surprising truths about leadership and politics in the twenty-first century. He also spends a lot of time bowing and doffing his hat.

• And then there's the month when he followed his wife's every whim -- foot massages, Kate Hudson movies, and all. Depending on your point of view, it's either the best or worst idea in the history of American marriage.


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I love A.J. Jacobs, and his writing is very funny, but I felt that something was lacking in most of these experiments: a deeper, soul-searching core. While his other books delve into issues like the nature of intelligence, or the spiritual meaning behind the rules and rituals of religion, these essays flit across the surface of problems like what it is like to be a celebrity or if you can outsource your life to India.

I was intrigued by some of his experiments, like a month of uni-tasking to cure his multi-tasking mania, the month of following George Washington's rules of decorum (which appealed to the 18th century person in me), or the month of thinking rationally (as opposed to reacting with his subconscious brain). These, I felt, had a lasting lesson to teach A.J. and us, and he was changed for the better because of them. His commitment to the experiments, and the imaginative lengths to which he goes to complete them are always fascinating, hilarious and brave. I really related to him during his last two books as a compulsive knowledge seeker, myself.

However, there are moments in this book where I felt he was being a dick. He accommodatingly admits it and is uncomfortable about it, but I felt bad for his family and his Indian assistants. Luckily, his long suffering wife is there to bring him back to earth every so often.

Still an entertaining summer read!

If you liked this book, you may like:

A Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

ARCHIVED REVIEW: The Year of Living Biblically (4/10/10)

(All archived reviews are from a previous book blog journal)

The Year of Living Biblically: 

One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

 By A.J. Jacobs. 

This is a wonderful story about a man's quest to discover what this religion thing is all about.

He decides to follow all the rules set out in the bible, even the really crazy ones, like stealing eggs from pigeons. Sometimes, the rules don't really affect him, but sometimes they change him in the most profound way. Like the rule in the bible about how you must always wear white. It makes him feel lighter, and happier. More spiritual.

I also learned so much about Jewish traditions, and the reason behind them. I always thought it was sexist to call women unclean during their period, but when a woman bleeds it is considered a little death. The loss of a potential life. And apparently there is a similar one for men too, but no one talks about it that much.

It is so admirable how he commits to the project, even to the inconvenience of his family. (The interplay between himself and his wife is one of the real delights of the book.)

He starts out not believing, but knowing that if he goes through the motions of the traditions, he might end up believing.

He comes out the other side a "reverent agnostic," he says. Paying attention to all the rules, resting on the sabbath, obeying laws, giving thanks, made him pay more attention to life. To the tiny every day things. 

When learning the different ways to pray, he says thanks over his hummus: "I'd like to thank the farmer who grew the chickpeas for this hummus. And the truckers who drove them to the store. And the little old Italian Lady who sold the hummus to me at Zingone's deli and told me 'Lots of Love.'" It sounded silly, but made him really pay attention to the food he was eating, and made him feel connected to all those people.

He gained so much from the different traditions he examined: Amish, Hasidic Jew, Red-Letter Christian, Snake Handers, Jerry Fallwell's parish, and the philosophy of his various spiritual advisors, like the "pastor out to pasture."

He gains a small bit of meaning from even the strangest traditions. He learned how to surrender, he broke down religious stereotypes, and learned how to live in each moment, giving thanks.

I recommend it to anyone of any religion, or no religion.