The Year of Living Biblically

I just finished reading A.J. Jacobs' *The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible*. It was one of our Lit Club choices and was also recommended to me by a good reader friend. Jacobs' previous book is called *The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World*, which describes his effort to read the entire *Encyclopedia Britannica* from cover to cover, in one year. He must be crazy, right? As you can see from the book's cover, he actually went so far as to grow a beard, dress in clothing from Biblical times, and carry around a variety of props, musical instruments, etc. He didn't just jump into it haphazardly, however. He consulted lots of experts from many sects of the Jewish and Christian faiths; books; various versions of the Bible; websites; and even attended a Jerry Falwell church as well as a snake-handling church. He also visited Israel to meet a long-lost and vigorously shunned ex-member of his own family, a man he refers to as "Guru Gil". I liked this book a lot because in addition to being hilarious and different, it clears up some common myths about both the Christian and Jewish faiths.

As part of my new ranking system, I'll give this book 3 out of 4 bananas.