GalleyCat
 
Receive mediabistro.com's Daily GalleyCat Feed via email
Freshbooks


Daily Media Newsfeed Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Media Newsfeed via email.

Monday Apr 07, 2008

Guinea Pig A.J. Jacobs Goes Back To The Lab For "Healthiest Human Being" Book

aj.jpgLiving biblically and reading the encyclopedia worked out so well for A.J. Jacobs that he's gone back to the self-experimentation well, reupping with Simon&Schuster for another stunt book. This time he'll "work with a board of advisers and study great texts" and "visit the world's healthiest communities, exercise with a passion, analyze his DNA and revolutionize his diet" in a quest to become the 'Healthiest Human Being In The World,' per S&S's press release. He also got them to anthologize his previous self-experimentation essays as part of the deal. More power to A.J.,whose books tend to be fun, but it's hard not to resent the fact that he is pretty much singlehandedly responsible for the occasionally annoying 'I did a thing for a year' genre. Sometimes it seems like wherever you look there's a new book about a year of saying "yes" to dates or having sex with your wife every day or following the advice in self-help books or eating only food from your organic garden. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily, it's just that the pool of good gimmicks is limited, and shrinking. Plus there are so many of these books now that some enterprising self-reflective journalist could theoretically write a book about their year of only reading year-stunt books, and the life lessons learned thereby. Hmm!




new on mediabistro.com

The Future of Social Media with Chris Anderson

The editor of Wired explains how to create a social network that works.
Watch the video

Email This Post

Fill out the following information and click on the Send button in order to send this post, Guinea Pig A.J. Jacobs Goes Back To The Lab For "Healthiest Human Being" Book, to a friend.
Friend's name
Friend's email address
Your name
Your email address
Note to your friend (optional, max 200 Characters)

Read more on GalleyCat >

Interested in advertising on GalleyCat?

Our Blog Network

TVNewser

PRNewser

FishbowlNY

FishbowlDC

FishbowlLA

UnBeige

MobileContentToday

MobileMarketingToday

MobileDevicesToday

MobileAppsToday

AgencySpy

GalleyCat.com: the first word on the book publishing industry

galleycat-sidebar-shadow.jpg

Editors:
Ron Hogan
Jason Boog

Contributing Editor:
Andy Heidel




rss-feed-icon-64x64.jpg

more feeds from mediabistro.com

Anonymous Tips

Guidelines For Use

Favorite Posts

galleycat-sidebar-shadow2.jpg

"Why Can't Men Write Anymore?": An Alternate Answer

Michael Chabon & Jeffrey Ford Demolish Genre

deborah-baker-sidebar.jpg
Deborah Baker: Following the Beats Through India

heather-thomas-sidebar.jpg
Our Chat With Heather Thomas

jack-oconnell-sidebar.jpg
The (Long-Awaited) Return of Jack O'Connell

marya-hornbacher-sidebar.jpg
Marya Hornbacher: "No Tortured Artists Here"

sarah-hall-sidebar.jpg
Sarah Hall: "There Is No Future, And England's Dreaming"

isabel-fonseca-sidebar.jpg
Isabel Fonseca: Embracing the Candor of Fiction

stean-sagmeister-sidebar.jpg
Stefan Sagmeister: "Design for Non-Designers"

alex-witchel-sidebar.jpg
Alex Witchel: A Fern Among Roses?

Peter Walsh: "It's Never About the Stuff"

The Last Whiny Editor Email We Ever Ran


Where Will We Find Literature's Radiohead?

A Miss Is a Hit on a Different Target

Your Negative Attitude Won't Save Literacy

The More Book Critics Change, The More They Stay the Same

In Which Philosophical Enquiry Disabuses Me of An Insidious Preconception

It's Hard Out There For a Literary Novelist

jack-romanos-button.jpg
The Exit Interview with Jack Romanos

porochista-khakpour-button.jpg
Flammable Author Refuses to Be Silenced or Pigeonholed

michael-rogers-button.jpg
The Futurist in the Attic

diane-vadino-button.jpg
Don't Let the Pink Cover Faze You

Obscure Literati Cry Out for Amazon's Attention

The NYTBR and the Case of the Misplaced Corpse

ellen-litman-button.jpg
A Chat with Ellen Litman

kimberlee-auerbach.jpg
Tarot Memoirist Draws Winning Hand

Oh Noes! Peoples Stopped Reading! We Is Doomed!

vincent-lam-button.jpg
A Chat with Vincent Lam

eric-kampmann-button.jpg
Eric Kampmann Defends If I Did It Deal

America's Readers a Pack of Bloodthirsty Ghouls

rakesh-satyal-button.jpg
Going to a Town, Feelin' Like a Criminal

Lunch with Leslie & Lesley

anna-david-button.jpg
Chick Lit Is Never a Compliment

Touring the Met with Danny Danziger

Thomas Nelson's Densely Packed Brand Nucleus

Jumping on the Mattress of the Book Review's Deathbed

laura-albert-button.jpg
Laura Albert: "Not Sorry," Moving On

Our Exit Interview with Don Weise

Old Man, Look at My Blog

It's Not Just a Book Review Crisis

Blogs Under Fire in LA

Publishers, Techies Love Each Other Up

Pop Fiction Unaffected by Lit Crit Demise

Librarians Squirm at Cite of Scrotum


Why Does Maureen Dowd Hate Popular Women?

Maureen Dowd Discovers Chick Lit

Terry McMillan Still Bitter

jamesfrey.jpg
Haven't You Forgotten James Frey Yet?

Literary Showtune Parodies!


Links

theBookseller.com

Buzz, Balls & Hype

Danuta Kean

Eco-Libris

Publishers Marketplace

Publishing Contrarian

Publishing For Profit

Publishing Insider

Publishing News

The Publishing Spot

Publishing Trends

Publishers Weekly

PubRants

Shelf Awareness

TeleRead

Weekly Publishing Moves

...more...

Archives

October 2008

September 2008

August 2008

July 2008

more...


Recent

Eat, Pray, Read

The Thurber Jury Loves You, Larry Doyle!

Rounding Up the Beast

cats by Clipart.com, a service of Jupiterimages

Subscribe

Click here to receive the Daily Media News Feed by email.

Job Listings

Featured Listings

Production Coordinator
Hachette Book Group
New York, NY

Assistant Online Editor
Harvard Business Publishing
Watertown, MA

Associate Publisher
Cleis Press
San Francisco, CA

Field Sales Representative
Courier Publishing
Mid Atlantic, MD

ADVERTISEMENT


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l mbToolbox l PRNewser l AgencySpy l MobileAppsToday l MobileContentToday l MobileMarketingToday l MobileDevicesToday
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

JupiterOnlineMedia

internet.comearthweb.comDevx.commediabistro.comGraphics.com

Search:

Jupitermedia Corporation has two divisions: Jupiterimages and JupiterOnlineMedia

Jupitermedia Corporate Info


Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, & Permissions, Privacy Policy.

Web Hosting | Newsletters | Tech Jobs | Shopping | E-mail Offers