The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

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The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 30,588 ratings · 3,941 reviews

From the bestselling author of "The Know-It-All" comes a fascinating and timely exploration of religion and the Bible.Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments....more

Hardcover, 388 pages

Published October 9th 2007 by Simon & Schuster (first published 2007)

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The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Best Non-Fiction (non biography)

64th out of 2,087 books — 3,725 voters

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

A Year in the Life

2nd out of 99 books — 153 voters

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Dec 27, 2010 Lisa Nelson rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!

Recommended to Lisa by: Michelle

Shelves: non-fiction

(4 1/2 Stars)
First, To: A.J. if you have Googled yourself thank you for such an interesting and wonderful read! I loved your honesty.
To: A.J.'s Dad you can click that you liked this review.
To everyone else: There were some highlights from this book that I would love to share. I love being able to have a record of what I've read and what I thought about a book, you probably hate getting so many e-mail updates on what I've read so delete if you must. I definitely shared too much on this one, now y...more (4 1/2 Stars)
First, To: A.J. if you have Googled yourself thank you for such an interesting and wonderful read! I loved your honesty.
To: A.J.'s Dad you can click that you liked this review.
To everyone else: There were some highlights from this book that I would love to share. I love being able to have a record of what I've read and what I thought about a book, you probably hate getting so many e-mail updates on what I've read so delete if you must. I definitely shared too much on this one, now you don't even have to read the book, but you should, you'll like it.

1. I started out reading this thinking it would be a witty and humorous look at some of the wackier, zany rules that are found in the Bible, especially the Old Testament. I did find that there was plenty of craziness. I laughed out loud at many of the experiences the author had throughout his year quest. What surprised me was the depth of some of the experiences he went through. What surprised me even more was how much it had me examining my own religion, my own life, and my own interpretation of passages in the Bible.
2. Some of the crazy things the author tried such as not mixing fibers in clothing, or not shaking hands with women who may or may not have been menstruating were fairly extreme, but seemingly easy compared with not gossiping or not stealing including: neighbors wireless networks or straws that his two year old wanted to play with at Starbucks. I've found the same things to be true for myself. As an LDS (Mormon) woman I no longer have a difficult time with our ban on drinking and smoking, but again gossip (which I truly try to abstain from) or keeping my heart and thoughts pure is another story. These passages really made me dig deep about how I can be a better Christian and a better person to everyone I come in contact with, even that man who just cut me off in traffic.
3. I loved what this book had to say about observing the Sabbath. I feel like I do just okay with this one. I feel like sometimes my Sunday's dragging three small kids to Church alone while my husband is in Church meetings, then on to working and serving at Church racing around, only to come home and have my toddler miss a nap and make a big dinner does not feel like what God had in mind for a day of rest. I want to try harder on this one. Because even with all the Sunday scrambling that goes on here I love Sundays and really can feel a difference in this day set aside to worship and contemplate things of a spiritual nature. I want to make a goal to try not to be as task oriented on this day and make a deliberate effort to make it more of a day that I think God has intended it to be.
4. On Day 181 the author talks about how his new Biblical alter ego Jacob starts taking over and says, "Secular people are the freaks, not religious people. How can you not think about the Big Questions all the time? How can you put so much energy into caring about earthly matters,..." As long as I can remember I've been a Big Question person. I love having these types of conversations. This book in many parts felt like I was having a good long discussion about the Big Questions. The author writing style flowed so well that by the end I felt like A.J. and his wife and kids were family friends.
5. The author talked about a derisive term called, "Cafeteria Christianity," where moderate Christians are accused of picking and choosing the parts of the Bible they would like to follow. He talks of how we all do this to a certain extent. I guess I could be described as a "Cafeteria Mormon," some things I love so dearly that I'll have seconds please. Other dishes yes, I will leave on the counter. I really want to try to do all I can to try and have my own years of living Biblically by trying to take the best things from the Bible and the Book of Mormon and incorporate them into the person I would like to be. I want to love my neighbor, and have a more thankful heart, I want to have more sincere prayers, and have more compassion.
6. My favorite part of this book came close to the end where the author attends his niece's bat mitzvah and has what I would describe as a spiritual experience. He describes it in part by saying, "My son's hands locked around my neck, his head pressed against my shoulder, I chose to accept the feeling and ride it to the end. To surrender. If I had to label it, I'd say the feeling is part love, part gratefulness, part connectedness, part joy. And that joy was like joy concentrate..." I loved these couple of pages where he used such great metaphors for describing experiences that are hard to put into words for anyone. He goes on to say, "Without my year, I wouldn't have been open to that feeling I got on the dance floor. And for that alone, all the craziness and Handy Seats (used to insure not sitting anywhere unclean) and locusts and snakes might have been worth it." This touched me to the core! Sometimes I wonder why I do all I do with regards to being a member of the LDS Church. But I have had a few spiritual epiphanies so rich and so joy filled that it makes it all worth it. I have to say that unfortunately most of my religious life is filled with unremarkable moments. But the times where I have really felt Heavenly Father's love for me are so powerful that it helps me to keep going through the times when I'm feeling less connected.

I really appreciated the author's journey as well as my own. Any book that can inspire me to evaluate my own life and can help me become more spiritually connected, while still making me laugh and cry is definitely a Good Read!(less)

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Nov 09, 2007 Carl rated it 1 of 5 stars

Ask yourself: "Would it be fun to literally follow the bible for one year?" If, like most people I know, would answer no, then run away from this book as fast as you can. I got about 200 pages in when I realized, I can't fucking stand this guy, and his story is getting old quickly.

Here's the problem: There are so many retarded things the bible says you should and shouldn't do. Take, for example, do not lie, thou shalt not lie, or however they fucking say it in there. You could write a long enter...more

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Jun 12, 2009 Sparrow rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sparrow by: Heather Persinger

Shelves: memoir-biography, non-fiction, hilarious, reviewed, beards-are-mesmerizing

It seems very authentically Jewish to write smart and funny social commentary about exploring spirituality through following obscure rules. I don’t know if such a thing as being “authentically Jewish” exists (versus everyone who is inauthentically Jewish, right?), and I hope I don’t offend by that phrase, but what I’m saying is that I don’t think Moses and Isaiah and all the boys would kick A.J. Jacobs out of their club. In fact, I think Jacobs comes closer to meaningful Bible commentary than an...more It seems very authentically Jewish to write smart and funny social commentary about exploring spirituality through following obscure rules. I don’t know if such a thing as being “authentically Jewish” exists (versus everyone who is inauthentically Jewish, right?), and I hope I don’t offend by that phrase, but what I’m saying is that I don’t think Moses and Isaiah and all the boys would kick A.J. Jacobs out of their club. In fact, I think Jacobs comes closer to meaningful Bible commentary than any contemporary Christian writers I have read. I was worried when I started the book that it would be like my experience with the Will Farrell movie Blades of Glory: without much substance beyond the weirdness of the concept. Instead, The Year of Living Biblically was an adventure, and I feel it would be very thought provoking and entertaining for readers of any religion or spiritual persuasion.

Jacobs’ purpose in following the Bible as literally as possible is to prove that each of us, regardless of our specific beliefs, makes choices as to what constitutes Scripture (or holiness, or what have you) and what doesn’t. Specifically, Jacobs looks at interpretations of the Bible (2/3 Old Testament, 1/3 New Testament) and tests how relevant, or even manageable, they are today. He goes about this with the earnestness of a little kid memorizing statistics on his favorite baseball team or learning how to take apart a car, and I think that enthusiasm is what makes this book charming rather than obnoxious. For example, when he finds two prevailing interpretations of how to live a biblical rule or principal, he does both. He gives thanks both before and after a meal, and when deciding who he should stone, he looks for someone working on both Saturday and Sunday (failing to observe both the Jewish and Christian Sabbaths). I mean, if you have to stone someone, it’s better to cover your bases, right?

If it is not already obvious in what I have said thus far, A.J. Jacobs is unabashedly weird. I don’t get the impression that the weirdness is a show, either, but that the show is some kind of natural part of his weirdness. I think that makes this a compliment. Regardless, his weirdness brings out the weirdness in others enough to make the cast of characters in The Year of Living Biblically as hilarious and horrifying as a Dickens novel. The book is not a circus, though, and Jacobs treats all of his characters and their beliefs with respect, whether he agrees or disagrees with them. He is very honest about his own skepticism and willing to say when something seems hateful or unlikely, but he is also very open to the views of others.

His blog is updated pretty frequently, and while scanning through it, I came across this selection, which gives a pretty good sample of his writing:

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
The Other Moses

I got a note from a reader saying that I shouldn’t ignore the ‘hanging curveball’ thrown by Gwyneth, who just begat a new son named Moses.

It’s a rich topic, to be sure. Though as a guy whose real name is “Arnold,” I don’t think I can really make fun of other people’s names.

But...I will say that if the Paltrow-Martins are trying to form some sort of Biblical theme (Apple from Genesis, Moses from Exodus), they should know that most Biblical scholars do not think that the unnamed forbidden fruit was an apple.

The more likely candidates, they say, include pomegranate, fig, apricot, wheat and grape. One source said it was a banana tree, but that might just be crazy talk.

I hope that people will not dismiss this book before they have read it. It is possible that people on the right and will expect it to be hateful mockery and people on the left will expect it to be irrelevant. I don’t think it is either of those things, but rather, as I said, thoughtful and smart. Often he discusses debates over Scripture similar to the passage above in that his ultimate conclusion is that the very nature of the debate is a little loony tunes. I found his reflections on the value of faith and family, however, very insightful. Hopefully, we can learn his more profound lessons without having to forsake mixed fibers and carry a Handyseat for a year, but it is a comfort to have A.J. Jacobs out there on the front lines of literalness, taking the bullet for the rest of us.(less)

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Sep 04, 2007 Patrick Oden rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone interested in the Bible

Shelves: fun, religion, nonfiction

G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." In this book, A.J. Jacobs not only tries Christianity, he tries out the whole Bible, both the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures.

He does indeed find it difficult. But he doesn't find it wanting. In fact his year long quest to follow all of the commands of the Bible results in a most delightful and insightful read.

It is delightful because Jacobs is such an engaging writer....more

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Jul 23, 2008 Petra X rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humour, philosophy-religion, biography-true-story

This is what I call a snork book. So funny in parts that if you are drinking coffee, its going to come spluttering out of your nose. AJ Jacobs is a secular Jew (me too) and spends two thirds of this book researching biblical law and trying to live it. The last third addresses the New Testament in the same way. Living biblically for AJ means dressing in white robes, growing a ZZ Top beard and trying to literally fulfil each commandment even if terribly embarrassing. Like buying the guy behind him...more

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Mar 30, 2008 Kristopher Jansma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookblog

My fiancee has been bugging me for months to read this book and I am oh-so-glad that I finally did. Her enthusiasm for it was unflagging - she brought home an advanced reader's copy from work as soon as she heard it was in the works. She then bought at least two more copies for friends during the holidays - bought them, even though she works for the publisher and could have probably finagled a pair of free ones. But I kept hesitating, despite her praise. For one thing, it's non-fiction, which I...more My fiancee has been bugging me for months to read this book and I am oh-so-glad that I finally did. Her enthusiasm for it was unflagging - she brought home an advanced reader's copy from work as soon as she heard it was in the works. She then bought at least two more copies for friends during the holidays - bought them, even though she works for the publisher and could have probably finagled a pair of free ones. But I kept hesitating, despite her praise. For one thing, it's non-fiction, which I sometimes take to sneering at, mostly because I know that most readers would rather read a non-fiction book about the history of Cod than a work of new fiction by some bright young author. My fiancee, incidentally, works for a fairly-strictly non-fiction imprint, so she reads a ton of it now - and so I feel it's my silent duty to even out the scales. Finally I made the mistake she was waiting for. I was set to embark upon a long flight, followed by a two-day car trip, followed by another long plane trip. She caught me staring at my shelf disappointedly, and I said, "I don't have anything I feel like reading." I'd fallen right into her evil trap, of course, because no sooner did I blink and her advanced reader's copy of The Year of Living Biblically was resting in my hands. Just to keep things balanced, I still read Vile Bodies first.

Of course, she was right. The Year of Living Biblically was fantastic. The author, AJ Jacobs, Esquire writer and previous author of The Know-It-All (which is about him reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica from A to Z), decides that he is going to try and live the Bible as literally as possible for one year. This means not just the Ten Commandments, which would be difficult enough as it was, but as many of the hundreds of minor commandments that are scattered along the way between Genesis and Revelation. My reading the book was certainly enhanced because I was (coincidentally?) simultaneously concluding a sixteen-week evening Introduction to Judaism course. My fiancee, you won't be surprised to learn, was also the driving force behind the class. But I digress, the point is, that the book is written such that even if you've never set foot in a religious center or read a line of the Bible, you'll still be able to enjoy it immensely, aside from which you will also learn everything you never knew you wanted to know about the Bible.

Jacobs begins his yearlong quest as an agnostic, non-practicing Jew living in New York City with his wife Julie and a two-year old son Jasper. He dives in with earnestness and naiveté, certain only that he is going to suffer immensely as he begins to work. He compiles a list of commandments and tries to follow as many as he can - as literally as possible. Soon he discovers, as did his more religious Jewish brethren long-ago, that dozens are actually impossible to follow at all because they involve things like sacrificing animals at a Temple that was destroyed two thousand years or so ago. But he grows his beard out, he wears all white, he builds a Sukkot in his living room. He stops shaking hands with women for fear they may be "impure" - which incidentally causes trouble with the aforementioned wife, Julie. He stones an adulterer, eats locusts, gets a slave (intern), writes out the Ten Commandments on his doorframe, and so on and so forth. Of course he also tries to pray diligently, cease lying, cease coveting, and figure out how to better raise his son. By the end he has certainly changed, although I won't ruin it by explaining exactly how. He puts it well in his introduction - if Present-AJ were to have coffee with Year-Ago-AJ, they would both leave wondering what the hell was wrong with the other.

When I was about halfway through the book I confessed to my fiancee that I loved it, and she'd been right all along. She smiled and said that the way he thinks just made her feel like she was in my head, which I took as a high compliment, even though I know she means both the parts where he is being soulful and brilliant and the parts where he is struggling with his own flaws. She's got me pegged, though. I'd been having the exact same sensation - in some places I felt like I was reading a transcript of thoughts I'd been having over the past few months as I too debated God's existence as I delved into our Judaism class. In the beginning, Jacobs makes a list of things he covets, and his first item is Jonathan Safran Foer's reading fee (an alleged $15000). Now, I knew plenty of other writers in grad school who were insanely jealous of JSF's rise to fame... and I was even one who held out and always claimed he was a truly great writer when others were hating him (see earlier entry on JSF's 2nd book). I suppose there may not be a writer under the age of 40 in New York that isn't somewhat jealous of him. But it was wonderful to see it laid right out in print. Jacobs also admits to Googling himself and checking his Amazon sales ranking every day, also bad habits I'm surely forming. Later, he is making a list of lies he told in just one day. Numero Uno? "I lied to Julie about how much internet access at Starbucks costs. I told her $8 instead of $10 so she'd be 20 percent less annoyed." Yep. I'd do that.

In the end the book may not make you want to go out and grab a Bible, but it might. It at least got me to resolve to at least keep reading the weekly portions, as I've been doing the past few months during my class. More than anything I liked that the book made me think more about what I'm going to be like someday with my son, and to appreciate the fact that I have a fiancee like Julie in the book, who knows I'll love the book and will harass me to read it for months without fail. And who reads books this insightful and honest and believes that's how I think. (less)

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Nov 29, 2007 Dave rated it 2 of 5 stars

The concept of "The Year of Living Biblically" is this: the author would forgo his secular lifestyle for a year and embrace the Bible and its teachings as literally as possible.

"The Year of Living Biblically" didn't have the same success as his other works. Jacobs, who is known for immersing himself in a project for a year and then writing about it, was warned by family that maybe this wasn't the best concept for a follow-up to his popular "Know-It-All" book, and they may have been right.

Jacob...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, non-fiction, memoir, religion, biography, 2000s

A.J. Jacobs is a journalist and editor of Esquire magazine, who has some really interesting ideas for memoirs. I first heard about Jacobs by a friend who read his book; The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, in which he all 32 volumes of the 2002 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. While I’m yet to read this book (but I will) I decided to read The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.

The b...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Abby rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really, really liked this book! A.J. Jacobs is now one of my favorite guys. He writes for Esquire magazine. I don't even know for sure what that magazine is about (I think it's a men's magazine), but it makes me want to read it anyways.

So, when he's not writing for Esquire, he writes books. This is one of them. It's about his quest to live all the laws of the bible the best he can, for a full year. Not just things like "Love thy neighbor", but also the stranger laws- blow a horn at the start o...more

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Jan 11, 2008 Osho rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007

I was pleasantly surprised by Jacob's documentation of his year of biblical literalism. When I began, I had a number of concerns, based in part on his last book, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. The Year of Living Biblically addresses some of the concerns I had in both instances about a rather mechanistic approach to a year-long, self-imposed, all-encompassing task. I'd have liked to see a more explicit discussion of the reality that by the time...more I was pleasantly surprised by Jacob's documentation of his year of biblical literalism. When I began, I had a number of concerns, based in part on his last book, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. The Year of Living Biblically addresses some of the concerns I had in both instances about a rather mechanistic approach to a year-long, self-imposed, all-encompassing task. I'd have liked to see a more explicit discussion of the reality that by the time the Bible was redacted, much editing had occurred and the documents already reflected past practices that even then were functionally unknowable. (Having proofread upward of 25 volumes of Jacob Neusner's Talmud and Mishnah translations and commentaries (e.g., this kind of thing), I am all too aware of the multi-page disputes that one verb could provoke even hundreds of years ago). Jacobs does say a number of times that even biblical literalism involves interpretation and picking and choosing (he gives the example of not actually plucking one's eye out if it offends one), but it might have been useful for him to discuss in more detail that there was no period in which all of the laws found in either testament were actually followed simultaneously.

I'd also have liked more reflection on the process, a quarterly summing up, for example. Since the structure is chronological rather than thematic, at its worst it reads like a diary of tasks (today I threw a stone at an adulterer--check). Generally , however, Jacobs's narrative moves along at a reasonable clip, is pretty funny (though I do wonder why my local Borders stocks it under "Humor" rather than "Religion"), informative, and good-natured. Though some of Jacobs's actions are bizarre out of context, I imagine that many readers will identify with his ongoing difficulties telling the truth, not swearing, and trying to adhere to dietary restrictions.

Jacobs's account of following Old Testament prescriptions is more successful than his New Testament months, which are less richly detailed. He does talk about his difficulty as a Jew (even an agnostic Jew) in following some of Christianity's rules. I kept wishing he'd taken a full Old Testament year, then spent another year immersed in a religious tradition entirely alien to him. (I must say apropos of this that I don't blame him for not doing so, and his wife is saint enough as things stand).

For more tales of year-long obsessive pursuits, read Jacobs's The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, Julie Powell's Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, and Mark Obmascik's The Big Year. Please feel free to add comment with other year-long quests to do some big task. For general obsession, it's hard to go wrong with Stefan Fatsis's Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players. If you'd like to drive a friend or relation to nervous exhaustion, give him or her all of these books at once. Enjoy!

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May 08, 2008 Jordan rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Year of Living Biblically starts out pretty fine: I chuckled; I was interested to find out what would come of it all. Halfway through, however, I'd pretty much had enough. Jacobs is a little too smug (though he puts on the requisite veil of "Oh, God! I'm so bad at this religion thing!"), he doesn't portray his wife or son too nicely (she comes off as a humorless snot, though she's probably lovely in real life; son Jasper sounds like a brat), and it's annoying how little Jacobs thinks of my m...more

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Jan 26, 2008 Evan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Given to me by my wife on Christmas (and, incidentally, eaten by my dog exactly one month later), The Year Of Living Biblically was written by A.J. Jacobs, an editor of Esquire magazine. Jacobs’ previous book (The Know-It-All) entailed reading the encyclopedia in its entirety. To find a gimmick for his next project, Jacobs turned to an even more popular volume: The Bible.

Jacobs spends a year attempting to follow all the Old Testament’s instructions as literally as possible, in ways both expected...more Given to me by my wife on Christmas (and, incidentally, eaten by my dog exactly one month later), The Year Of Living Biblically was written by A.J. Jacobs, an editor of Esquire magazine. Jacobs’ previous book (The Know-It-All) entailed reading the encyclopedia in its entirety. To find a gimmick for his next project, Jacobs turned to an even more popular volume: The Bible.

Jacobs spends a year attempting to follow all the Old Testament’s instructions as literally as possible, in ways both expected (forgiving debts; praying regularly; avoiding pridefulness) and less expected (purging his wardrobe of mixed-fiber clothing; making melodies with a harp of ten strings; cooking unleavened bread by letting the sun harden it on his back). Over his year of “living Biblically,” Jacobs assembles a group of spiritual advisors, and takes field trips to destinations ranging from Pennsylvania Amish Country; to The Creation Museum; to a sort of all-male Hasidic mosh pit on the Jewish holiday of Simchas Torah; to Jerusalem itself.

In general, this book is more entertaining than it is exploratory, and reads like an expanded magazine feature (not that that's a bad thing). Jacobs is a genuinely funny writer, but he can be sincere as well. And to his credit, he restrains himself from taking cheap shots at others’ beliefs. Jacobs acknowledges that this is a change of behavior for him, and attributes his diminishing capacity for cynicism to his new-found habits—in other words, he wonders whether physically acting like a better person might be spiritually transforming him into a better person.

Beginning his journey as an agnostic, Jacobs ends it as a “reverent agnostic”—which, he insists, is not the oxymoron it might first appear to be. “Whether or not there’s a God,” Jacobs writes, “there is such a thing as sacredness.” In Jacobs’ experience, sacredness is a quality that transcends everyday life, and one which will motivate him to continue his habit of everyday prayer—even if he’s still not completely sure to whom, or to what, he is praying.

* * *

Ultimately, I’m not sure what Jacobs will retain from his experience. But I know what I’m going to retain. It’s the following joke, told to Jacobs and his wife by one of the Pennsylvania Amish:

Q. What happened when the Amish man married the Mennonite woman?

A. He drove her buggy!

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Mar 22, 2008 Danna rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found the book to be less about an exploration of the Bible and biblical religions, more about: "I'm OCD and here's my latest obsession!" I did appreciate that the author mentioned this directly on page 148, and the book was quirky and interesting enough that I stuck with it until the end.

The bit that stuck with me the most wasn't one of the oddities, like binding money to your hand or not sitting on a chair that was recently sat upon by a menstruating woman, but rather an omission. In their s...more

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Aug 26, 2008 John rated it 1 of 5 stars

It's mean of me to say so, because it's clear that writing it was a rather significant spiritual experience for Jacobs, but this book is just silly. It's meant to be entertaining-yet-thought-provoking, but I only found it mildly entertaining, and not at all thought-provoking. I actually found his wife funnier than him. My favorite part by far was when she was temporarily "unclean" and it annoyed her to be thought of that way, so in revenge she sat on all the furniture so that A.J. would have no...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who has a relationship with the Divine, regardless of what that relationship is.

Shelves: judaism, memoir, non-fiction

I wasn't sure what to expect out of this book, aside from a humorous tour of the Bible. I was pleasantly surprised to find an honest, if at times irreverent, attempt by Jacobs to not only follow the Bible as literally as possible (something we discover quite early on is not necessarily as plausible an option), but also to get into the mindset of someone who does follow the Bible out of conviction. Being Jewish, Jacobs spends more time on the "Old Testament" section, grappling, much like his Bibl...more

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Aug 22, 2008 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

This title is ok. I wanted it to be really good. I also want people who show up in the store looking for a religious title to pick this up by accident, but only because I don't always behave biblically myself. I just think it would be amusing.

Jacobs blesses us with another bio-book a la 'The Know It All' wherein he takes on a quest to better himself. In this case, having fathered a child, he suddenly realizes that his overwhelmingly secular life might have left him devoid of the ability to raise...more
This title is ok. I wanted it to be really good. I also want people who show up in the store looking for a religious title to pick this up by accident, but only because I don't always behave biblically myself. I just think it would be amusing.

Jacobs blesses us with another bio-book a la 'The Know It All' wherein he takes on a quest to better himself. In this case, having fathered a child, he suddenly realizes that his overwhelmingly secular life might have left him devoid of the ability to raise his son in a moral way. He decides that he wants to follow bible law as closely as possible for one year (9 mos OT, 3 mos NT), even if it ticks off his 1-week-out-of-the-month unclean wife, who gets back at him in a pretty amusing way at one point, managing to deprive him of all adult sized seating options in their apartment.

I found all the bible tidbits he mentions in the book to be more interesting than the description of his journey; but that's me, all about the dorky details. I also liked his inclusion of his various spiritual gurus' interpretation of various bible laws and passages, some of them very sensible and some off the wall...I'm sure where each interpretation lands in the spectrum will vary by individual, but there's of range to choose from here.

I think I could have handled the title better if he hadn't decided to try to follow biblical law so literally and so carefully that he became a bit of a cartoon...a year's worth of scraggly beard, wearing all white and eventually progessing to Jesus robes, carrying around one of those canes that becomes an emergency chair so that he wouldn't have to sit anywhere 'unclean.' (Though as a self-described huge germ-aphobe, he might just keep that one up). In many cases, he seems to find that there's an underlying idea to each law that's helpful, such as more parenting for his son, and that the literal law may be going overboard, aka 'The Rod' (that when spare spoils said child, supposedly. The bible doesn't quite say it that way, but it does say 'rod.').

Despite the fact that his personal story didn't really grip me, I did read this book in two days, which is a pretty good for me (i'm in the wrong job for being a slow reader, but i slog on). I guess that means something in there was pulling me along.(less)

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Jul 07, 2008 Scott Franklin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am not even sure how I was turned on to this little book but late this past fall, I added it to my reading list and was fortunate enough to receive it from my parents as a Christmas gift. I love that I usually have time over the holidays to make it completely through a book.

Summary: The book is basically a journal through A.J. Jacobs’ religious experiment to obey the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, as literally as possible. Those familiar with the Scriptures realize that there are a great...more

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Dec 21, 2007 Patricia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-nonfiction

Based on the author's own reporting in this book, I would guess that, of all the authors I read A.J. Jacobs would be most likely to Google himself and find this review. If he is reading this, let him rest assured that I enjoyed this book, the story of—as the subtitle informs us—“One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.”

Parts of this books are laugh-out-loud funny, as when Jacobs describes boning up for an interview with Rosario Dawson by watching two of her movies re...more Based on the author's own reporting in this book, I would guess that, of all the authors I read A.J. Jacobs would be most likely to Google himself and find this review. If he is reading this, let him rest assured that I enjoyed this book, the story of—as the subtitle informs us—“One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.”

Parts of this books are laugh-out-loud funny, as when Jacobs describes boning up for an interview with Rosario Dawson by watching two of her movies rented from CleanFlicks or describing how his refusal to tell a lie by calling an English muffin a bagel results in the temper tantrum of his three-year-old son.

The book was also thought provoking, I especially enjoyed the part about not using the Bible as a self-help book, which is the opposite message I’ve heard over and over again. Other parts are sweet, such as his dealings with his neighbor and newborn twins. Jacobs is obsessive about his subject, devouring not just several versions of the bible, but many, many books about the Bible. Overall, an entertaining read.

One note. It used to be books had footnotes. You would read until you got to the little superscripted number sign and then shift your eyes down to the bottom of the page to read the little footnote. Somewhere along the line, we lost the footnotes. There seems to still be end notes in academia, resulting in a grumbled flip to the back of the book only to see “Ibid.” The nonfiction world seems to have embraced an even more annoying version. They let the author write the notes, and put them at the end of the book, and make no mention of them throughout the book. More than once after I’ve finished a book I’ve come upon several pages of end notes that I had no idea were there. Then I read some disjointed notes that would have been much more interesting if I had been able to read them while I was reading the chapter in question. How is the reader even supposed to know to go to the back of the book at that point? “Bring back the footnote!” Don’t let David Foster Wallace be the only one to indulge. Let our eyes jump around the page again. It would be like a video game. Or a web page. I beg you nonfiction book manufactures, bring back the footnote. Or at the very least the endnote. Footnote! Footnote! Footnote!
(less)

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Nov 03, 2007 marg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok, I did NOT think I would like this book, and I certainly didn't think it would get five stars - and I grappled with that, as usual, but felt like I can't not give five stars to a book I loved this much just because I'm a snob (I try to apply the same to my students' papers, sadly I am not as effective there).
First, I gotta say, what a painless way to read nonfiction! This is basically Dave Barry does Bible - Jacobs is sharp witted, funny and has fantastic lines - and his breadth of biblical...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, non-fiction, religion, male-author, 2000s, 2007

I really thought I'd enjoy this book far more than I did. The premise is great but the actual results just didn't live up to my expectations.

A.J. Jacobs states, numerous times, that he is an atheist. As an atheist myself his attitude and actions throughout the book don't hold that up. He is actively trying to find God which means that to some extent he does believe God exists and I find it a little jarring.

Although there are some humourous parts of this book overall I didn't find it that funny....more

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Nov 18, 2007 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jacobs spends a year attempting to strictly live by the hundreds of rules and commandments found in the Bible. While this may sound irreverent, he is respectful of every faith and his secular point of view provides openness and shows a desire to understand all aspects of the Bible and the many branches of Christianity and Judaism, from more liberal to extreme conservative viewpoints. He speaks with different religious groups and individuals and hears a broad range of interpretations. He recounts...more

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Mar 23, 2009 Lara rated it 5 of 5 stars

I REALLY enjoyed this book. For starters, I love people who do ridiculous, over-the-top things, so I figured I was pretty much destined to adore the author. (I now really need to read his first book, involving him reading the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica.) In this book (as the title indicates), Jacobs attempts to follow the Bible as literally as possible for a full year.

One of my friends told me he found this book a little contrived - but I disagree. At the very beginning, Jacobs admits that...more

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Mar 10, 2009 Sherie rated it 4 of 5 stars

The title says that A.J. Jacobs is an humble man and after reading his book, I am convinced that he did not lie (that, lying, is covered in the book), and further I am convinced that if I ever had the honor of meeting Mr. Jacobs, I would like him.
The book was, at times, hilarious, touching, and spot on about the difficulties one faces in living life as a good person, not to mention trying to follow every directive the Bible puts forth.
Mr. Jacobs is reflective enough to move away from his firm ag...more

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Apr 19, 2009 Bobby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-ve-finished

What would happen to the man who really tried to put others before himself? Love his enemies? Turn the other cheek? Give to all who asked- no strings attached?

I'd like to read that man's memoirs.

But unfortunately, at the end of his hilariously pedantic year-long tour of the Bible, Jacobs' manages to have covered none of these. (Loving your neighbor as yourself is mentioned only in the last chapter- when he says it is in fact impossible.)

One must wonder at the man who can spend a year in intense...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Mazel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ne vous y trompez pas : A. J. Jacobs n'est pas un religieux. C'est un juif new-yorkais tout ce qu'il y a de plus laïque qui, au départ de cette aventure, ne sait pas grand-chose de la Bible. Mais frappé par la résurgence de la foi et le nombre croissant d'Américains déclarant prendre les Ecritures au pied de la lettre, il s'est mis à douter. Serait-il possible qu'il passe à côté d'une expérience humaine essentielle ? Pour en avoir le coeur net, il va lire la Bible et tenter de la suivre aussi li...more

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Aug 12, 2010 R. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Après s'être attaqué à la gigantesque encyclopédie Britannica, A.J. Jacobs, journaliste pour le magasine Esquire, s'est attaqué à un autre monument. Je parle bien évidemment du livre parmi les livres: La Bible. L'auteur a décidé de vivre pendant un an selon les préceptes du livre saint. Il expérimente le littéralisme en appliquant les règles au sens strict. Suivre ces principes vieux de plusieurs milliers d'années dans le New York des années 2000 réserve quelques surprises et quelques situations...more

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May 26, 2008 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Linda by: NPR- religion podcast

Shelves: year_of_fill-in-the-blank, memoir

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A.J. Jacobs sets out to poke fun at Biblical literalists by devoting a year to obeying every rule set forth in the Bible, thereby showing the world how impossible and ludicrous Biblical literalism is.
I feel rather ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, it is quite funny, and it is not without its genuine and insightful moments. On the other hand it is, in the words of another goodreads reviewer, a "stunt memoir," and I have a hard time forgiving it that. And I'm having a really hard time f...more A.J. Jacobs sets out to poke fun at Biblical literalists by devoting a year to obeying every rule set forth in the Bible, thereby showing the world how impossible and ludicrous Biblical literalism is.
I feel rather ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, it is quite funny, and it is not without its genuine and insightful moments. On the other hand it is, in the words of another goodreads reviewer, a "stunt memoir," and I have a hard time forgiving it that. And I'm having a really hard time forgiving him doing two stunt memoirs (he reads the Encyclopedia Brittanica in his first book). This is despite of my weakness for this sort of thing: the idea of setting out to change your life for a significant but limited amount of time and recording your reactions and insights is really appealing to me.
My real problem is that I can't help but feel that Jacobs is dishonest here- he's not setting out on a genuine spiritual quest, he's not trying to change his life. He's setting out to prove a point with a straw man argument, and make his living doing it. Following a set of precepts that you find ludicrous, for the point of proving them ludicrous, and then pretending that it has anything to do with actual religion is both a straw man argument and a waste of time. I mean, I could set out to read China's answer to Emily Post and practice all the rules set forth in order to prove the inanity of Chinese culture, but who in their right mind would accept that I knew anything about being Chinese?
I also don't find it all that interesting that Jacobs debunks literalism. People purporting to be biblical literalists aren't likely to be his audience. His audience is going to be, for the most part, politically liberal secular folk, with some "believing" liberals thrown in for good measure. So projects with foregone conclusions that involve preaching to the choir...eh.
That said, I wouldn't call the book a waste of time. Jacobs manages, in spite of himself, to be transformed from an agnostic to a reverent agnostic, and it's worth reading the book to discover what that means.(less)

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Jul 15, 2008 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: leisure

I suppose I was attracted to the book for the hilarity of literal interpretations of scripture. In the end, I think the literalists have it more right then A.J. and many of his advisors. It left me wanting but I don't think my cynical self needs more fuel. A.J. follows a legalistic approach to Scripture which he admits the Bible condemns. His motive is really to point out the ridiculousness of literal interpretations and their fundamentalists counterparts. In the end though, he doesn't get it. H...more I suppose I was attracted to the book for the hilarity of literal interpretations of scripture. In the end, I think the literalists have it more right then A.J. and many of his advisors. It left me wanting but I don't think my cynical self needs more fuel. A.J. follows a legalistic approach to Scripture which he admits the Bible condemns. His motive is really to point out the ridiculousness of literal interpretations and their fundamentalists counterparts. In the end though, he doesn't get it. He does understand that the God of the Bible is a personal God who desires relationship with us but he never really finds this God because he is too committed to his "literal" interpretations. He is understandably lost in the sea of books on Scripture and doesn't know who to believe. I just wish he would have read more of those who speak of God redeeming people, those who see the gospel on every page of the Bible, then those who are obsessed with obeying every letter and neglect the heart. One of the things I was very disappointed with was his chapters on the new testament. He didn't appear to me he did any of it, but perhaps that is because it can't be done without accepting the lordship of Jesus, something A.J. could not bring himself to do.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good read, especially for Christians who have lost touch with how popular American culture would approach the Bible at face value. If you have lost your missionary perspective as a Christian, you should read this so you can better understand your neighbors and communicate the gospel. If you are not a Christian and enjoy the mild satire of the book, I hope you at least appreciate the Bible and its simplicity and complexity as A.J. does. But know that God desires us to know him, and through a relationship with him we are transformed to bring light to a often dark world that has more questions then answers. Its not about rules, but a relationship. The Bible is God's primary means of showing us himself, and ourselves. The whole Bible is really about Jesus and the life we can live through him alone (John 5:39-40).(less)

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Chad I think A.J. Jacobs is pretty typical of most people who 'need' to be converted, in that as an agnostic, accepting Jesus as your savior is almost a me...more
Aug 31, 2008 12:18pm

May 26, 2008 Rose added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008

The premise for this book was an interesting one, and I did learn from it. It's certainly fodder for responding to insistence on doing something or other "because the Bible says to", and the author illustrates the immense difficulties of translating and interpreting the Bible. However, I wasn't particularly moved by his budding spirituality, nor his schizophrenic division of himself into A.J. and "Jacob". I felt that he was not entirely clear, himself, on what the point of this mission was: to c...more

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May 02, 2008 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Carrie by: NYT

I loved this book. It was on the NYT bestseller list and I was intrigued. The NYC library system has 115 copies and it took me 4 months on the waiting list to get it. It was so worth the wait.

The author decides to live the bible a literally as possible for a whole year. Side note he has an amazing wife to put up with this for a year during which she is pregnant with twins.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"You just have to tell them that you have a hunger and a thirst. and you man not sit at t...more

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About A.J. Jacobs

A.J. Jacobs is a New York Times bestselling author, Esquire editor and human guinea pig.

Among Jacobs’ life experiments:
--The Know-It-All. The bestselling memoir of the year he spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a quest to become the smartest person in the world.
--The Year of Living Biblically. The bestseller about his life as the ultimate biblical man. He followed every rule of th...more

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Books by A.J. Jacobs

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

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“My reading list grows exponentially. Every time I read a book, it'll mention three other books I feel I have to read. It's like a particularly relentless series of pop-up ads.” — 332 people liked it

“I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance.” — 25 people liked it

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