Jacobs is in Philly this weekend as part of the First Person Festival’s author panel on memoir writing. Here’s hoping there are easier ways to go about it.
Inside the Writer’s Notebook
Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m.
The Painted Bride
230 Vine St., $15-$20
www.firstpersonarts.org
A.J. Jacobs has done some difficult things in the name of research. For his 2004 book “The Know it All,” he read all 33,000 pages of the “Encyclopedia Britannica.” Then for 2007’s “The Year of Living Biblically,” he spent 365 days adhering to scripture. Even so, he wasn’t prepared for the month he had to practice Radical Honesty for his latest, “The Guinea Pig Diaries.”
“To be radically honest, I don’t practice Radical Honesty anymore because it’s insane,” says Jacobs, who took his lessons from the movement’s founder. “But I do practice what I call sustainable radical honesty. It doesn’t have to be, ‘Your ass looks fat in those jeans.’ It can be positive.”
Jacobs also ended up appreciating his chapter seven assignment, following George Washington’s personal 110 rules. “It’s fairly impossible, because it’s all about being civil, and we live in a very uncivil world,” he says. “But rule No. 2 is not to adjust your private parts in public. I think we can agree on that.”
Jacobs initially considered trying every position in the Kama Sutra, but his wife — who plays a super lovable character in his books — objected. “I’m actually quite thankful she did,” he said. “I don’t think I’m limber or flexible enough for it.”