The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible | 
 enlarge | Author: A. J. Jacobs
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  351 reviews
Sales Rank: 1318
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0743291476
Dewey Decimal Number: 220
EAN: 9780743291477
ASIN: 0743291476
Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New - may have a small remainder mark on the edge.
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Amazon.com
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2007: Make no mistake: A.J. Jacobs is not a religious man. He describes himself as Jewish "in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant." Yet his latest work, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, is an insightful and hilarious journey for readers of all faiths. Though no fatted calves were harmed in the making of this book, Jacobs chronicles 12 months living a remarkably strict Biblical life full of charity, chastity, and facial hair as impressive as anything found in The Lord of the Rings. Through it all, he manages to brilliantly keep things light, while avoiding the sinful eye of judgment. --Dave Callanan Amazon.com
Subtitled: "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible," Jacobs, or A.J., as his two-year-old son calls him, does just that. It is likely that no one but A.J. Jacobs could have accomplished such a feat. After all, his last book, The Know-It-All, chronicles his reading of the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica, from A to Z. No one but a smart, witty, self-deprecating, nitpicky kinda guy would undertake two such daunting tasks, and complete them with grace, no pun intended. Jacobs, a New York Jewish agnostic, decides to follow the laws and rules of the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament, for one year. (He actually adds some bonus days and makes it a 381-day year.) He starts by growing a beard and we are with him through every itchy moment. Jacobs is borderline OCD, at least as he describes himself; obsessing over possible dangers to his son, germs, literal interpretation of Bible verses, etc. He enlists the aid of counselors along the way; Jewish rabbis, Christians of every stripe, friends and neighbors. In an open-minded way he also visits with atheists, Evangelicals Concerned (a gay group), Jerry Falwell, snake handlers, Red Letter Christians--those who adhere to the red letters in the Bible, those words spoken by Jesus Himself, and even takes a trip to Israel and meets Samaritans. Through it all, he keeps a healthy skepticism, but continues to pray and is open to the flowering of real faith. Jacobs is a knowledge junky, to be sure. He enjoys the lore he picks up along the way as much as any other aspect of his experiment. One of the ongoing schticks is his meeting with the shatnez tester, Mr. Berkowitz. He is the one who determines whether or not your clothes are made of mixed fibers, in keeping with the Biblical injunction not to wear wool and linen together. The two become friends and prayer partners, in only one of the unexpected results of this year. In the end, he says, "I'm now a reverent 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." Not a bad outcome. --Valerie Ryan
Product Description
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. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to play a ten-string harp; to stone adulterers.
The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal and will make you see history's most influential book with new eyes.
Jacobs's quest transforms his life even more radically than the year spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica for The Know-It-All. His beard grows so unruly that he is regularly mistaken for a member of ZZ Top. He immerses himself in prayer, tends sheep in the Israeli desert, battles idolatry, and tells the absolute truth in all situations - much to his wife's chagrin.
Throughout the book, Jacobs also embeds himself in a cross-section of communities that take the Bible literally. He tours a Kentucky-based creationist museum and sings hymns with Pennsylvania Amish. He dances with Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn and does Scripture study with Jehovah's Witnesses. He discovers ancient biblical wisdom of startling relevance. And he wrestles with seemingly archaic rules that baffle the twenty-first-century brain.
Jacobs's extraordinary undertaking yields unexpected epiphanies and challenges. A book that will charm readers both secular and religious, The Year of Living Biblically is part Cliff Notes to the Bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable. Thou shalt not be able to put it down.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 346 more reviews...
 Thank you July 4, 2008
Mr. Jacobs, thank you.
"The Year" is in many ways ordinary. (funny, witty, well orginized, methodical, etc.) The pages show a focus on quality and context. Honesty is prevelent throughout the work.
What is the book about? It is a journey. Thanksfully the author has recorded the details for all to read.
Honestly, I picked it up wanting answers. I became more and more annoyed that A.J., (if I might be so informal) gives you few or none. More and more questions spring to mind of the reader and you must fight to listen and learn and not "talk over" the writer. (Talk over: the act of talking so much about yourself that you stop listening to the book) Eventually I tossed out my MTV, 5min. attention span and just enjoyed the journey.
Again sir, thank you for your book.
 Ambivalent Book July 2, 2008
First off, this book was humorous and well written, as the author is famous for.
His experiment is done earnestly and described honestly. It certainly offers insight into the many sides of this book called "The Bible". It even has me examining things that I do in my own life that may help me be more enlightened.
The major issue I have with 'The Year of Living Biblically' is that he is too easy on the religious right and fundamentalists in general. I strongly suspect that this is done not to offend his readers.
This man is a liberal writer for Esquire who lives in Manhattan! You don't think he beleives that creationism is not insane? Or that the religious right preach hate? He is VERY soft on these groups, which I see as a cop out so he can make money.
Otherwise this is a fairly good book, but doesnt hold a myrrh candle to 'The Know it All".
Humorous, Reverent, and Interesting July 1, 2008
A.J. Jacobs has created an insightful and respectful look at living out the Bible laws literally. His stated intention was to live out every commandment in the Bible in their most literal sense. What could have been disrespectful and sacrilegious turns out to be insightful, honest, reverent, and funny. It is an easy read, and you will learn much from Jacob's journey.
This book is also about Jacob's spiritual journey. While he doesn't convert to either Judaism or Christianity, he becomes what he calls a reverent agnostic. Having grown up in a secular Jewish family, he is unsure about religion and its impact on people. His experience with religious fundamentalism is, understandably, offsetting. But he also recognizes that secular humanism is not the best for his son either. By the end of the book, Jacobs has experienced the power of forgiveness, the joy of thanksgiving, and experienced a host of changes.
Despite a lack of agreement with many hard passages in the Bible, Jacobs does not soft-sell or bypass the passages. He takes on the tough passages from Scripture, explores various approaches to understanding them, and often comes to some form of understanding. He doesn't always agree or like it, but he does explore various approaches. I appreciate that he does not set up straw men to easily knock over.
By the end of his experience, I believe he has been changed in ways that he did not expect and may not even understand himself. He has opened a door, and who knows where that door may yet lead.
Love...keeps no record of wrongs July 1, 2008
"There's a beauty to forgiveness, especially forgiveness that goes beyond rationality. Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great and powerful one." pg. 275
I am absolutely in love with the feeling and sincerity in those sentences. I might actually post them on my myspace somewhere. I've been thinking about it.
Aj speaks with absolute honesty and thoughtfulness through out his entire book. I'm thinking he is borderline genius. I almost feel like I know him. Like the quirky brother at a bbq. I often wonder if I could ever put so much of my soul out there for the world. It is touching and very connecting to the people in love with his projects.
For someone looking for an unbiased look on religion; this book is the way to go. Very informative, intelligent, and insightful. Aj lives through the bible and survives. Taking on almost all angles. From the ten commandments to Jerusalem... Aj will keep your interests high, and never disappoint.
Keep up the great work AJ!!!
Let the Stonings Commence! June 30, 2008
A.J. Jacobs is determined to live for an entire year as biblically as possible. As if this didn't have "wheeeee" written all over it, he goes even further to segment the year up according to the Old and New Testaments, so as to be as fair as possible. The amount of research, thought and planning that went into this memoir is part of what makes it so great. The author didn't just randomly pick passages to try and live, he went all out and not only got as close as he possibly could in these modern times (see the part where he tries "stoning" someone) with an insight that this reviewer could easily identify with. Mr. Jacobs asks the same innocent questions any other agnostic/non denomination person would when faced with a situation such as this.
From visiting with Hasidic Jews, Evangelicals, snake handlers, Creationists and a even a trip to Jerusalum, Mr. Jacobs meets some truly wonderous characters, one of which is a former relation. He retells the encounters with a quick wit and managing to retain an open mind (as best he can) toward the new and unfamiliar.
My favorite modern day conversion has to be when he finds that he must keep a "slave" per the Old Testament. In order to do this, he picks up an unpaid intern, who agrees per contract to be referred to as his "slave."
Other conversions are a little less successful (water and false idols!) and some just cause unintended public attention (if you saw someone with tassels attached to their shirt sleeves, you'd look too) but all in all, the point of view the author takes with this memoir is truly one any other curious agnostic or just non denominational anything could appreciate.
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