The Year of Living Biblically: one man's humble quest to follow the Bible as literally as possible
by A.J. Jacobs

Summary

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. The Year of Living Biblically will charm readers both secular and religious. This New York Times best-seller is part CliffsNotes to the Bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable. Thou shalt not be able to put it down.

Praise

"Both laugh out loud funny and enlightening ... an entirely absorbing read." — People (four stars).

"Hilarious, quixotic, thought-provoking ... 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 obscure ... 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 ... 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..." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Impressive and often tremendously amusing... While debunking biblical literalism ... Jacobs simultaneously finds his spirituality renewed.... A biblical travelogue far funnier than your standard King James." — Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

A.J. Jacobs is the editor at large at Esquire magazine. He is the author of New York Times best-sellers The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All as well as his 2009-released Guinea Pig Diaries. Jacobs has written for The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, New York magazine; has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and is a periodic commentator on NPR's Weekend Edition. He lives in New York with his family.

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