Books |
The Year of Living Biblically
A.J. Jacobs
By
Published: Jan 01, 2007
Category:
Spirituality
His family was Jewish — “in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.” That meant a Star of David on top of the Christmas tree. God? “Superfluous.”
And A.J. Jacobs didn’t think he was unusual. When the subject of religion made an unlikely appearance in his brain pan, he regarded it as an “archaic” thing, destined to wither and disappear.
But as a writer, A.J. Jacobs is the thinking man’s George Plimpton — he likes outrageous adventures. He welded his eyes to the Encyclopedia Britannica in order to write The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. Now that he had a young son, he decided to find out if there was anything to the religious path.
And here’s how he’d do it: He’d live the Bible. He’d become “the ultimate fundamentalist.” But only — thank God — for a year.
He started, of course, by reading the Bible. It took four weeks, five hours a day. When he was finished, he had a list of rules and advice — 700 rules, 72 pages worth.
He was now prepared to bathe after sex, pay workers every day, destroy idols, kill magicians and sacrifice oxen. And some other stuff.
Can he stop checking the Amazon.com sales ranking of his last book? (Could you?) Are there “mixed” threads in his blazer? (Had yours checked recently?) And how do you not covet? (Just skip that one.)
He buys a ram’s horn and learns — on the Internet — how to blow it. Takes trips to see how the Amish handle fundamentalism. The Creation Museum is a must. (But really, “an earth that’s barely older than Gene Hackman”?) He even invites a Jehovah’s Witness into his living room (“like paying to see a Vin Diesel movie”). Gets drunk with a mob of Hasids.
He is not good at stoning. His friends begin e-mails, “Give ear, O Jacobs.” His beard itches. With the help of in vitro, he and his wife are fruitful and multiply. He struggles through an interview with potty-mouth hottie Rosario Dawson.
It’s quite the year.
Along the way, A.J. Jacobs learns a few small things. “Stoning” means pushing a guy off a cliff — and you give him some shots of liquor first. Adultery only means sex with a married woman; other women, just compensate the father. Fresh goat’s milk doesn’t taste as bad as you think.
And, in his year as a literal believer, A.J. Jacobs also learns some big truths. So, surprisingly, did I. That was a surprise — this is a very droll writer, and his is a hugely entertaining book. You laugh so hard, the last thing you expect is to learn anything. But, like the author, I have to cop to self-betterment when it occurs.
The devout will pick up a few pointers in these pages. But the better audience for “The Year of Living Biblically” is that great mass of unbearded, worldly Americans — those of us who hated Sunday School, who equate religion with scratchy clothes and old people with questionable breath, who look with scorn at the odd American custom of inserting God into politics. Welcome, my children, this is your book. Well, not really. There is…. another book. But this one is more fun.
For the web site of A.J. Jacobs, click here.
