Drop Dead Healthy

December 12, 2011
With three bestselling titles in his One Man’s Humble Quest series, Jacobs decided to become “the healthiest man alive,” first consulting medical experts, making a list of outré diets, and putting himself in unusual situations. To try out the Paleo movement’s Caveman Workout, “which is all about being natural and savage and out in the wilderness,” he ran bare-chested through the wilderness of Central Park. He investigated the antiaerobic “slow fitness movement” that requires exercising only 20 minutes a week. With a 70-page to-do list, he tried everything from acupuncture to Nature’s Platform, a metal stand for squatting on top of a toilet since “there’s bona fide evidence squatting is better for you.” Each body part gets its own chapter; in “The Gonads” he recalls a urologist who told him, “When I do a prostate exam, it’s easy. I use one finger. Maybe two if I want a second opinion.” Jacobs achieves an instant intimacy with the reader, making his family life as much a part of the narrative as his many meetings with medical theorists and health gurus. He’s a clever humorist who successfully takes his readers on a round trip from reality to absurdity, dispensing solid, valuable health information along with fascinating oddities.

June 25, 2012
In this third book in A.J. Jacobs’s self-improvement trilogy—the previous two volumes focused on mental and spiritual health—the author takes aim at physical fitness. Jacobs, frightened by a bout of pneumonia and wary of his gradually expanding midsection (partially because of his wife’s gentle chiding), attempts to achieve ultimate bodily health. Throughout his journey, he experiments with numerous workouts and diets and consults with a battery of health experts, from nutritionists to dermatologists. Jacobs provides crisp, clean narration in this audio edition, and possesses an everyman quality reminiscent of Woody Allen that’s particularly appropriate for a title about personal improvement. And if Jacobs’s performance falters occasionally—at times his voice becomes high-pitched and squeaky—fans of his work will likely be able to look the other way. A Simon & Schuster hardcover.