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June 23
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New comment on Candice's review of
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness and the Fair that Changed America
reply to this comment
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January 26
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Evan
gave
 
to:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (Hardcover)
by A.J. Jacobs
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2008
Evan said:
"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 ...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!
...less
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Evan
gave
to:
Saints Preserve Us!: Everything You Need to Know About Every Saint You'll Ever Need (Paperback)
by Sean Kelly, Rosemary Rogers
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Evan said:
"Irreverently reverent.
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Evan
gave
to:
Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession (Paperback)
by Greil Marcus
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Evan
gave
to:
Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll: Fourth Edition (Paperback)
by Greil Marcus
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Evan
gave
to:
Travels with Charley: In Search of America (Centennial Edition)
by John Steinbeck
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Evan said:
"An extended road trip with a dog? What's not to like?
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Evan
gave
to:
Wayfaring Stranger (American Autobiography)
by Burl Ives
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Evan said:
"Burl Ives' surprisingly lusty autobiography, which ends before his House Un-American Activities Committee name-naming in the 1950s. (And WELL before he became an animated snowman.)
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January 25
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Evan
gave
to:
The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History (Hardcover)
by Jim Walsh
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Evan
gave
to:
It's a Man's World: Men's Adventure Magazines, The Postwar Pulps (Hardcover)
by Adam Parfrey
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Evan said:
"I loved the covers of shirtless guys getting attacked by everything imaginable in the animal kingdom. The Nazi stuff wasn't as funny.
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