A.J. Jacobs
We had the great pleasure of hearing Jacobs speak a few weeks ago at the Wisconsin Books Festival about his new book A Year of Living Biblically. I am greatly looking forward to getting my mitts on this book. A mere 100 other patrons and then it is mine from the Dane Library. In the meantime, I amused myself with The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. Deciding that his brain is shrinking at a horrifying pace, Jacobs decides to read the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica in a year. Interspersed with the various and sundry bizarre nuggets he gleams from the EB are stories of his personal life, relations with his family and job working as an editor at Esquire Magazine. Jacobs is endearingly honest and often shreakingly funny. In addition to a great read, you will also learn more fascinating facts on totally useless information than you ever could desire.
What It Feels Like is a collection of very short essays edited by Jacobs. Covering everything from being mauled by a bear to feeling fake boobs, these 5 minute reads give you vivid recollections from folks attacked by swarms of bees, lottery winners, guys who have gone over Niagra in a barrel and even someone who flat-lined.