First Jacobs spent a year following the Bible as literally as possible (The Year of Living Biblically) and then he read the Encyclopedia Brittanica from cover to cover (The Know-It-All). The genre is called stunt journalism, and Jacobs is good at it. In Drop Dead Healthy, he sets out to become the world’s healthiest man, consulting experts of all stripes, test-driving the conventional wisdom on health and fitness, and exploring a lot of crazy new stuff, too.

For his follow-up to The Year of Living Biblically, journalist A. J. Jacobs decides to read through all 32 volumes of the Enclypaedia Brittanica—and write about it. Fun and laugh-out-loud funny.

From Publishers Weekly (starred review): "What would it require for a person to live all the commandments of the Bible for an entire year? That is the question that animates this hilarious, quixotic, thought-provoking memoir from Jacobs (The Know-It-All). He didn't just keep the Bible's better-known moral laws (being honest, tithing to charity and trying to curb his lust), but also the obscure and unfathomable ones: not mixing wool with linen in his clothing; calling the days of the week by their ordinal numbers to avoid voicing the names of pagan gods; trying his hand at a 10-string harp; growing a ZZ Top beard; eating crickets; and paying the babysitter in cash at the end of each work day."

It’s no surprise the author behind The Know-It-All, which detailed his quest to read all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, decided he wanted to figure out why we’re drawn to all manner of puzzles and what their benefits may be. Already a nightly crossworder, he enters competitions, tries to solve the hardest puzzles whether a corn maze or jigsaw, and talks with fellow enthusiasts. As entertaining to read as it is insightful about problem-solving and how our brains work.