First published 2009
A.J. Jacobs transforms himself into a human test subject, diving headfirst into bizarre lifestyle experiments that push the boundaries of normal living. He outsources his entire existence to workers in Bangalore, India, letting them handle everything from emails to marital disputes. He practices Radical Honesty for a month, removing all filters between his thoughts and speech with predictably disastrous results. Jacobs sneaks into the Academy Awards disguised as a celebrity to experience fame firsthand. He commits to pure rationality, using scientific methods to make every decision from grocery shopping to parenting. Following George Washington's colonial etiquette rules, he bows constantly and tips his hat to everyone. Perhaps most dangerously, he spends thirty days obeying his wife Julie's every command, enduring foot rubs and romantic comedies in the name of research. Each experiment drives his patient spouse closer to madness while revealing unexpected truths about happiness, relationships, and human behavior. Jacobs approaches life's biggest questions through total immersion, creating both hilarious chaos and genuine insight into how we live.
Genres: humor, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: humorous, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, immersive-research
236 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster