Written by the author who, raised in a secular family but interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, decides to dive in head first and attempt to obey the hundreds of less-publicized rules. This book describes how the resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal.

As an editor at Esquire , AJ Jacobs had built up knowledge of celebrity trivia - and the cure was going to take a long time. While others read a broadsheet at the weekend, or become casual newsnight enthusiasts, Jacobs elected to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica . Part assemblage of trivia, part journey through adulthood, this is fun to read.

Exactly what it says on the tin: short, first-hand accounts of what it actually feels like to walk on the moon or be struck by lightning; to participate in an orgy or be shot in the head; to be 7'6 tall, or be bitten by a shark!

Raised in a secular family but interested in the relevance of faith in modern world, A J Jacobs decides to dive in head first and attempt to obey the hundreds of less-publicized rules. Jacobs immerses himself in prayer, tends sheep in the Israeli desert, fights idolatry, and tells the absolute truth in all situations - much to his wife's chagrin.

This publication is not for sale to libraries. Avoiding shellfish was easy. The stoning of adulterers proved a little more difficult - and potentially controversial. So what's a good Bible-reading boy to do? Suitable for readers secular and religious, this book is part York Notes to the bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable.