The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 400 pages
• Published by: Simon & Schuster
• Edition: 1st Edition October 9, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0743291476
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0743291477
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Review
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

Product Review
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 terrible outcome. --Valerie Ryan

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. What would it require for a human being to live all the commandments of the Bible for an entire year? That is the question that animates this hilarious, quixotic, thought-provoking memoir from Jacobs (The Know-It-All). He didn't just keep the Bible's better-known moral laws (being honest, tithing to charity and trying to curb his lust), but also the unusual and unfathomable ones: not mixing wool with linen in his clothing; calling the days of the week by their ordinal numbers to avoid voicing the names of pagan gods; trying his hand at a 10-string harp; growing a ZZ Top beard; eating crickets; and paying the babysitter in cash at the end of each work day. (He considered some rules, such as killing magicians, too legally questionable to uphold.) In his attempts at living the Bible to the letter, Jacobs hits the road in highly entertaining fashion to meet other literalists, including Samaritans in Israel, snake handlers in Appalachia, Amish in Lancaster County, Pa., and biblical creationists in Kentucky. Throughout his journey, Jacobs comes across as a generous and thoughtful (and, yes, slightly neurotic) participant observer, lacing his story with absurdly funny cultural commentary as well as nuanced insights into the impossible task of biblical literalism. (Oct.)
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Reader Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This book is amusing, and it is educational, and it shows thought about the various manifestations of Biblical religion. It could have been so much more. It could have been wildly funny, and enlightening, and moving. It's such a good idea, and such a rich topic, and it has been given all the depth of an article in TV Guide. The author decided to live by the rules of the Bible for a year; eight months of Old Testament, four of New (actually, the time ran a bit over). He made a list of all the things he was supposed to do, and went around doing them; at least, he went around doing the ones that can be done today--no animal sacrifices. Rather than stoning transgressors, he walked around with pebbles to toss at them. He gave to charity, and he probably drove his wife (who spent most of this time pregnant with twins) to distraction. The issue of credibility bothered me a bit, in that he seemed to bring almost no religious or cultural baggage to this endeavor. And he talked to experts and tried to experience the various forms of Biblical literalism. He had a group of preachers and rabbis for reference. He went to Lancaster and spent a day or so at an Amish B&B. He danced with the Hasidim on Simchat Torah. He went to Israel and talked to various people of various persuasions. And every time he did one of these things, I wanted to be able to ask, "Yes? And then what happened? And did you ask him about...?" He never really did. He spent his time looking for dry information and--to use the word he overused so much--epiphanies. The book does have some things going for it. It would be the perfect book to take on a trip; it's amusing, it can be picked up and put down at almost any point, and it does not require a lot of concentration. It is written smoothly, and it's easy reading; it should offend nobody. I wish a bit that it had more bite. Honestly, the book does not pretend to be anything profound, so perhaps the problem is mine; I had hoped for much more meaty content.