The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

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• A.J. Jacobs
• George Washington

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We could call A.J. Jacobs an odd duck, but actually he's a guinea pig. A writer for Esquireand a best-selling author, he spent a year completing what he calls "radical lifestyle experiments." The results of his foray into the unknown became the book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment. One experiment involved living his life according to George Washington's 110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. Jacobs says he learned about dignity and compassion during the experiment. Oh, and not to adjust his privates in public. (The rules about not eating or running in the street would have done us in.) For another month, Jacobs was completely honest. Not only did he not tell a lie, he said anything and everything that popped into his head. (We're guessing he said, "You're fat," an awful lot during those 30 days.) Among other experiments, Jacobs also dated online as Michelle to see life from a woman's point of view, outsourced his every task to a team in India (they even argued with his wife for him) and, finally, became the perfect husband when he spent a month doing everything his wife asked of him (maybe that was to make up for a few too many "you're fat" comments during his honesty phase). See Jacobs at 7:30 p.m. Jewish Community Center, 5601 South Braeswood. For information, call 713-551-7255 or visit www.jcchouston.org. Free to $14.
Sun., Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m., 2009