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Loading... The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life As an Experiment (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series) (original 2010; edition 2009)by A. J. Jacobs
Work InformationThe Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs (2010)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A collection of articles detailing the author's myriad experiments: radical honesty, unitasking, outsourcing one's entire life, etc. It's fun to read mostly because of the author's amusing way of describing his adventures. He never takes himself too seriously, which is good, because some of the rules he commits to are pretty ridiculous. That said, there are some thought-provoking moments as well, when he discovers new ways of thinking about things. Fun read. ( ) If you've got a rebuke to the literary mission of A.J. Jacobs, he's already heard it and put it behind him. He knows his wife is a saint. He knows he isn't as natty as Plimpton or Robert Benchley. And he knows that his work could be called market-ready fluff. I'm sure that feels like a day well spent at the office for some critic. To me it's like dissecting a rendition of "Happy Birthday." You may be perfectly right. You're also a humorless jerk. To this reader, Jacobs' experiments are about understanding oneself, making life more interesting and showing the reader a good time. And I love them for it. no reviews | add a review
A.J. explores the big issues of our time--happiness, dating, morality, marriage--by immersing himself in eye-opening situations. In his role as human guinea pig, Jacobs fearlessly takes on a series of life-altering challenges that provides readers with equal parts insight and humor. (And drives his patient wife, Julie, to the brink of insanity.) Among the many adventures: He outsources his life to a team of people in Bangalore, India. He spends a month practicing Radical Honesty, in which you say what's on your mind. 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. He attempts to follow George Washington's rules of life. And, for a month, he followed his wife's every whim.--From publisher description. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)814.6Literature American literature in English American essays in English 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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