Review: The Guinea Pig Diaries by AJ Jacobs

Last word first: Funny, irreverent, and thoughtful. I loved it! (5/5)

Description: AJ is at it again. Rather than trying to follow Biblical dictates, this time he's performing nine different social experiments using himself and occasionally his long-suffering spouse as subjects. What kind of experiments, you ask? Well... In an attempt to understand the outsourcing phenomenon, Jacobs outsources as many aspects of his life as possible, everything from drudge-work research to arguing with his wife. Then, he spends a month living Radical Honesty, essentially attempting to remove the filter between his brain and his mouth. Sounds like fun, no? And that's just a sampling.

My thoughts: Let me just say right at the beginning that I loved this book. This review isn't going to be particularly balanced, because the only negative thing I have to say is this: If you don't have a sense of humor about yourself and the world in general, this book will annoy you. I, on the other hand, have a sense of humor about everything (except curly hair and humidity... it's just not funny), so this book had me giggling throughout.

AJ Jacobs is a man with no fear. Or, at least, without the sense to listen to his fear when it tells him that something like Radical Honesty is a terrible idea as a one-month experiement in an otherwise politely deceitful life. But it sure is entertaining to read about:

"There's a fine line between Radical Honesty and creepiness. Or actually no line at all. It's simple logic: Men think about sex every three minutes, as the scientists at Redbook remind us. If you speak whatever's on your mind, you'll be talking about sex every three minutes."

But the very best part is that AJ's crazy ideas make you think. I especially loved the chapter where he attempted to combat all of his brain's cognitive biases: Mission Total Rationality. There are a lot of cognitive biases that I have never even heard of (and I was a psych major!), and it was incredibly interesting to read about them all. Though, I think it might be a little exhausting to keep track of them long enough to counteract them.

I think that part of the reason I've enjoyed both of the AJ Jacobs books that I've read is that I secretly wish I had the gumption to try these types of experiments on myself. But I think Joe might throw a hissy fit (a very manly one) and leave me. As it is, AJ's wife, Julie, suffers all the indignities with more grace than most of us could manage. The last experiment chronicled in this book is the month AJ spends doing everything Julie wants him to do. Everything. I think Julie really enjoyed that month. As she puts it:

"AJ's plan was that I'd eventually get bored of being in total charge and I'd be begging for his old self to come back. Guess what? That didn't happen. Maybe it would happen someday, but it would take a long, long, long time."

About AJ Jacobs: He's now working on a book called The Healthiest Human Being in the World. It continues Jacobs’ experiential journalism series as he tries to perfect his physical condition while simultaneously dissecting the meaning of the word “healthiest.” -excerpt from the bio on his website.