Fabulously funny, you must have a sence of humor to read his book. He really does live and entire year by the "book" the Bile that is! from not shaving to giving up shoes and coffee. I was crying at some points because I was laughing so hard.

His next took is about reading the entire encyclopia britanica in its entirety, driving family and friends crazt with facts.

Great liesure read, and a must if you are looking for humor! ( )

There are some people who have the talent of being able to take any situation and turn it into a great story (like the guy from "Supersize Me", Morgan Spurlock). A.J. Jacobs is another such engaging individual. He is smart, witty, and charmingly neurotic. His latest project is to pull every single commandment from the Bible he could find (over 700) and try to live each one as literally as possible for an entire year. So not just the 10 Commandments (which are pretty tough to get right all the time anyways) but ALL of them, even the ones most people think are crazy and don't understand.What follows is an almost day-to-day account of Jacobs' successes and failures (it's hard to conquer lust when you work for Esquire magazine) in a very real, very personal way. In his quest to better understand the Bible and its' rules, he meets with various individuals including deep-south snake handlers, Creationalists, and Samarians while in Jerusalem to name a few. Perhaps my favorite interview was when he met with a Jehovah's Witness - whom he actually ended up out-talking. The man finally begged leave when his wife called him at 10:30pm wondering when he was going to come home.As a side note, one reason why I liked this book so much is becuase he is constantly including lists - lists of rules, various Biblical interpretations, things he wants to work on, etc. I love lists and I like other list-makers, so thank you.Surprisingly, although humorous, this book also constantly had me thinking about my own personal spirituality - which I don't think is necessarily intended, but a logical extension. Most likely it was due to Jacobs' honesty - if he could be so brutal in self-examination, why not me? But that doesn't mean I would only recommend it to someone religious - I think just about anyone would enjoy this engaging book.And to A.J.'s dad: if you're reading this, I hope you click 'yes' that this review was helpful to you. ( )

Mike's Quick Capsule review: piece of shit.

Secular Jewish man follows Old and New Testaments, decides to circumcise his son out of respect for tradition. Is a New York neurotic hipster douchebag, a poor journalist and unsympathetic human being, pissing and moaning and hand wringing. Piss poor.

Seriously, look to the other reviews if you need a list of all the things wrong with this man's project, provided you maintain a secular, progressive viewpoint all you can see is a man making excuses for weary doctrine and following traditions by rote. Which is all very well, it's important to determine which existing thought is enlightened and venerate cultures that help people lead moral lives, I can see arguing for that. What I can't argue for is a book written by such a weaselly man: A journalist for Maxim who talks about his children as if they're immensely fragile flowers and agonizes about their safety and upbringing and his suitability to take care of both like a hysteric. Then he chops the tip off one. This isn't funny, it's dross. ( )

This is the best book I have read all year and I have read some good books. This book made me think. It made me understand. It made me laugh and it even brought tears to my eyes at some points.

Like Jacobs I grew up in a secular family and I find religion perplexing and intriguing and in part I am a little bit jealous of people of faith. My grandmother was Catholic and my mum once said that she envied her faith. The comfort my grandmother gained from her faith is something I wish I had. I, however am a sceptic. I want to believe but I can’t quite bring myself to believe. One of the most perplexing things I find with people of faith is their belief in parts of the Bible but not others. This specifically applies to those Biblical literalist I have encountered (primarily on the interwebbies). Jacob does a very good job of presenting what these people believe and why. Does he pass judgment, yes, but to my, secular liberal, views he does it with compassion and understanding. He states that he cannot believe what they believe but at the same time there is a sense of him wanting to have that strong faith.

The sections that had me laughing out loud where often connected to his wife's reactions to his project (her sitting on all the chairs in the apartment when she is menstruating is pure genius on her part) . I read several sections of the book out loud to my parents as I sat reading they were that funny. I also read out sections that I thought were particularly profound. One of these sections was this:

“The Bible is right: A deluge of images does encourage idolatry. Look at the cults of personality in America today. Look at Hollywood. Look at Washington. I’d like to see the next presidential race be run according to Second Commandment principals. No commercials. A radio-only debate. We need an ugly president. I know we’re missing out on some potential Abe Lincolns because they’d look gawky and gangly on TV.” (106)

Looking over my notes on the book I do have one thing that I am still wondering about: What would this book look like if a woman had written it? Many of the rules he touches upon points to the differences between men and women. I would like to read the book written by a woman doing the same thing.
The book primarily deals with the Old Testament as this is where most of the rules are located, but also because these are the rules that Jacobs with his Jewish heritage feels closest to. If I have one criticism of the book it is that I would have liked to see more commentary on the New Testament. The three chapters that cover the New Testament feel shorter and flatter than the nine that cover the Old Testament. They do include some fairly profound thoughts but they feel rushed. This is probably in part because of the birth of Jacobs twins and the changes that they cause in his life (and I was so happy that they had those kids). It didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book but I did notice the change in the book. ( )

This book is absolutely hilarious. I couldn't believe half the rules that Jacobs tries to follow. He actually goes out and throws pebbles at adulterers and refuses to touch women who have their period. He dedicated a whole year of his life to follow this and in the end made some pretty good points about religion and spirituality. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. ( )