Don’t you hate when you read something and immediately think, “Why didn’t I do that first?” That’s kind of how I felt after finishing A.J. Jacobs’ book “My Life as an Experiment.”
Of course there is the factor that I don’t have the talent or gumption that Jacobs has. Plus, my wife would probably never go for it, but I still wish I had the foresight to test new ways of living like Jacobs does.
The book chronicles a dozen or so efforts by the author to alter his life. He outsources all his work and personal tasks. He serves as Cyrano as his nanny traverses the world of online dating. He lets his wife have her way for an entire month and commits to total honesty, obviously not at the same time.
Jacobs has a very engaging writing style and truly commits to these experiments. He’s best known for his “Year of Living Biblically” book so these aren’t stunts. He really does try to learn more about himself and those around him when he undertakes a new task.
That’s what I enjoyed the most. He mixes humor and insight in each essay. The chapters breeze by pretty quickly, but you feel like you actually learned something as well. I’m eager to go back and read his other stuff after finishing this book.
While getting ready to write this, I also discovered that the book has been turned into a pilot for a TV series. This could work because the experiments have no real limit. They seem to have a good cast, so maybe it will work. Either way, the book is definitely worth a shot.