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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
A very interesting look at self experimentation. I would have appreciated a more quantitative approach, but each experiment was well defined and I learned an immense amount about marriage.
I am wavering between 2 and 3 stars because this book was...just okay. I was excited to read it, since I'd read his first book and his second is on my list to read. But I was a little disappointed. The fist book detailed the author's reading the complete encyclopedia and had so much interesting info in addition to the author's experiences. But this was about a series of social experiments, and it was lacking the humor of the first book. I'm rounding down on this one.
Originally published at: A Girl That Likes Books
In the book, as it was mentioned on the summary, Jacobs attempts different tasks, all of them presented in small chapters with a conclusion at the end of each one of them. Already in the introduction I found a very important piece of advice:
You have to be interested on the topic. That's the rule number one. If you aren't passionate, it shows.
It seems pretty simple doesn't it? But how often do we embark in a task that we just have to do. That's what makes it harder. I think that's why I enjoy his books so much, because he is always interested on what he is doing, and it shows.
I have to say, I didn't learn as much with this book as I did with the others, but I think is mostly because this is not about learning new things about a subject, but learning how someone reacts when in different positions or situations. Learning that maybe being 100% honest is not necessarily as good as it sounds; or learning that maybe you shouldn't' t listen to someone's advice just because they are older (Jacobs took anti-balding advice from his mother, that was a funny passage).
And something he never fails to give me is funny similes:
First impressions are like South American dictators: overly powerful and unreliable.
I would say ANY dictator is like that, but I have to admit the comparison is just perfect to the point of make me smile just to think about it.
Now, as for the Jezebel article...I really enjoy that website, but sometimes I think they overreact. I agree that maybe the phrasing of the sentence is not the best:
Maybe that's why women do more housework. They're better at it. They were born with the tidiness gene.
But technically he is not wrong at saying that we are better suited to organize stuff, and that's just because the woman brain's connections between hemispheres. Which is also why we are better at expressing emotions. Also, we see colors better since our eyes recognize differences in hue easily...at the same time, he is not saying that a man cannot cook or clean up, or at least I didn't read it that way. For someone to be better at something it implies that someone else is good, but not as much.
In the book, as it was mentioned on the summary, Jacobs attempts different tasks, all of them presented in small chapters with a conclusion at the end of each one of them. Already in the introduction I found a very important piece of advice:
You have to be interested on the topic. That's the rule number one. If you aren't passionate, it shows.
It seems pretty simple doesn't it? But how often do we embark in a task that we just have to do. That's what makes it harder. I think that's why I enjoy his books so much, because he is always interested on what he is doing, and it shows.
I have to say, I didn't learn as much with this book as I did with the others, but I think is mostly because this is not about learning new things about a subject, but learning how someone reacts when in different positions or situations. Learning that maybe being 100% honest is not necessarily as good as it sounds; or learning that maybe you shouldn't' t listen to someone's advice just because they are older (Jacobs took anti-balding advice from his mother, that was a funny passage).
And something he never fails to give me is funny similes:
First impressions are like South American dictators: overly powerful and unreliable.
I would say ANY dictator is like that, but I have to admit the comparison is just perfect to the point of make me smile just to think about it.
Now, as for the Jezebel article...I really enjoy that website, but sometimes I think they overreact. I agree that maybe the phrasing of the sentence is not the best:
Maybe that's why women do more housework. They're better at it. They were born with the tidiness gene.
But technically he is not wrong at saying that we are better suited to organize stuff, and that's just because the woman brain's connections between hemispheres. Which is also why we are better at expressing emotions. Also, we see colors better since our eyes recognize differences in hue easily...at the same time, he is not saying that a man cannot cook or clean up, or at least I didn't read it that way. For someone to be better at something it implies that someone else is good, but not as much.
A.J. is super interesting as a person. I'm really excited to read his other books.
As for this book, I love that he learned something from each experiment, but didn't act as though his life was completely changed. He was totally honest in sharing what worked and what didn't. If you are interested in psychology, this would definitely be a good read for you, especially the chapter on rationality and cognitive biases.
As for this book, I love that he learned something from each experiment, but didn't act as though his life was completely changed. He was totally honest in sharing what worked and what didn't. If you are interested in psychology, this would definitely be a good read for you, especially the chapter on rationality and cognitive biases.
Another fun read by A.J. Jacobs. I agree with another reviewer that my main complaint was that it went by too fast!
Very fun, of course, being A.J. Jacobs. This is the story of his shorter "experiments", the not-book-length ones. Like the time he decided to be radically honest for a month. The time he ended up posing nude for his magazine. Oh, and my favorite--the time he did everything his wife wanted him to do for a month. LOL
I love AJ Jacobs, and enjoyed this book, but at times it rehashed stories from The Know-It-All. Probably my favorite story is the time he was forced to pose naked for Esquire so he could understand what women go through when they pose for cheesecake pictures. The photographer, named Nigel, kept telling him to "Sook in yer goot!"
In Jacobs's own words: "My goot? Nigel taps his stomach.
Ah, he's talking about my problematic belly. I sook in some air.
Nigel begins snapping photos. The Frisbee-sized lights flash, making a soft pop, like a snare drum in smooth jazz. I sit. I try to think dignified thoughts. Think of the Romans, the Greeks. They posed nude and still started civilization as we know it.
I feel vulnerable, yes. There I am, exposed for all to see. But paradoxically, I feel disappointed that no one seems to be looking at me. Nigel has a cadre of cute, young female assistants. They are busy making cell-phone calls, chatting about what they heard on NPR that morning, unpacking lenses. My nude form holds about as much allure to them as a wicker chair."
Even though this wasn't my favorite AJ Jacobs's book, I love his eccentricities (various OCD habits) and his authenticity, not to mention his long-suffering wife, Julie.
In Jacobs's own words: "My goot? Nigel taps his stomach.
Ah, he's talking about my problematic belly. I sook in some air.
Nigel begins snapping photos. The Frisbee-sized lights flash, making a soft pop, like a snare drum in smooth jazz. I sit. I try to think dignified thoughts. Think of the Romans, the Greeks. They posed nude and still started civilization as we know it.
I feel vulnerable, yes. There I am, exposed for all to see. But paradoxically, I feel disappointed that no one seems to be looking at me. Nigel has a cadre of cute, young female assistants. They are busy making cell-phone calls, chatting about what they heard on NPR that morning, unpacking lenses. My nude form holds about as much allure to them as a wicker chair."
Even though this wasn't my favorite AJ Jacobs's book, I love his eccentricities (various OCD habits) and his authenticity, not to mention his long-suffering wife, Julie.
You know who Jacobs is. You’ve probably heard about him, even if you didn’t read his book. He’s the guy who read all the Encyclopedia Britannica, A to Z. He followed that up in his second book by attempting to live by the precepts of the Bible. I will never forget the chapter where he decides to take up stoning the sinners.
This new book also falls into the genre of what I call Challenge Books.
I like these. The woman who visited a different church each Sunday for a year. The couple who traveled around the world and tried different foods every where they stopped.
In The Guinea Pig Diaries, Jacobs tries nine small personal challenges. These are challenges we might have contemplated, but would actually be difficult to take on for a lengthy period of time. And the results are funny, so funny that I should caution you not to read this at home on a Saturday while your spouse is there (as I did) as you will drive your loved one insane reading the really funny parts aloud to him.
A.J. Jacobs makes me laugh. The experiments he does in this book had me chuckling and I had a hard time putting this book down to go to work or to go to sleep. The best part is I always learn something I never knew before when reading his books. I'm going to try and find the book where he read the encyclopedia for a year next!