A. J. Jacobs

Infobox journalist


name = A. J. Jacobs
| caption =
birthname = Arnold Stephen Jacobs, Jr.
birth_date = birth date and age|1968|3|20
birth_place = New York City
age =
death_date =
death_place =
education =
occupation =
alias =
status = Married
title = Esquire Editor at Large
family =
spouse = Julie Schoenberg
children = Three
relatives =
ethnic =
religion =
salary =
networth =
credits = "", "The Year of Living Biblically"
agent =
URL = http://www.ajjacobs.com

Arnold Stephen Jacobs, Jr., commonly called A.J. Jacobs (born March 20 1968, New York City) is an American journalist and author.

Personal

Jacobs was born in New York City to lawyer Arnold Jacobs Sr. and Ellen Kheel. He has one sister, Beryl Jacobs. Jacobs studied philosophy at Brown University. He is married to Julie Schoenberg and has three sons: Jasper Kheel Jacobs (born March 11, 2004) [Jacobs, A.J. "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World." (2004) Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. p. 371.] and twins Zane and Lucas Jacobs (born August 24, 2006). [Jacobs, A.J. "The Year of Living Bibically" (2007) Simon & Schuster. p. 314-316.] He is the editor at large for "Esquire" and previously worked for the "Antioch Daily Ledger" and "Entertainment Weekly".

Professional

Jacobs sees his life as a series of experiments in which he immerses himself in a project or lifestyle, for better or worse, then writes about what he learned. [ [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/a_j_jacobs_year_of_living_biblically.html A. J. Jacbobs: My year of living biblically] . TED video. Filmed December 2007.]

In one of these experiments Jacobs read all 32 volumes of the "Encyclopædia Britannica". He wrote about it in his humorous book, "" (2004). In the book, he also chronicles his personal life along with various endeavors like joining Mensa.

In 2005 Jacobs out-sourced his life to India such that personal assistants would do everything for him from answering his e-mails, reading his children good-night stories, arguing with his wife. Jacobs wrote about it in an "Esquire" article called "My Outsourced Life" (2005). [ [http://www.esquire.com/ESQ0905OUTSOURCING_214 "My Outsourced Life"] , "Esquire", September 1, 2005]

In another experiment Jacobs wrote an article for "Esquire" called "I Think You're Fat" (2007), [ [http://www.esquire.com/features/honesty0707 "I Think You're Fat"] , "Esquire", July 24, 2007] about the experiment he conducted with Radical Honesty, a lifestyle of total truth-telling promoted by Virginia therapist Brad Blanton, whom Jacobs interviewed for the article.

Jacobs' book "" (2007) chronicles his experiment to live for one year according to all the moral codes expressed in the Bible, including stoning adulterers, blowing a shofar at the beginning of every month, and refraining from trimming the corners of his facial hair (which, he followed by not trimming his facial hair at all). Paramount is also developing "The Year of Living Biblically," with director Julian Farino attached and Jay Reiss adapting the screenplay. [citation|date=June 12, 2007 |title=Vaughan takes over 'Vegas' duties |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966822.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |first= Pamela |last=McClintock |publisher=Variety |accessdate=2008-02-08] [ [http://www.cinematical.com/2007/06/09/paramount-developing-year-of-living-biblically/ Paramount Developing 'Year of Living Biblically'] ]

Jacobs is also the author of "" (1994), an irreverant comedic comparison of Elvis and Jesus; and "America Off-Line" (1996). He also writes for "mental floss", a trivia magazine.

Experiments with Wikipedia

When Jacobs outsourced his life for the Esquire piece "My Outsourced Life", he asked his Indian assistant, "Honey K Balani", to write a biography about himself on Wikipedia. A bizarre article soon appeared on Jacobs calling him "The King who thinks he Knows it ALL!", "a not so unheard international figure" and a "writer and editor of phenomenal grey-matter" ... "a living form of encyclopedia at large."

In September 2005, Jacobs (with "Esquire" magazine) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Improve_this_article_about_Wikipedia participated in an experiment] of the "wiki process". He submitted an intentionally error-riddled article to Wikipedia which discussed the peculiarities of such an encyclopedia. After about two days and 373 edits, he was pleased with the version, stating, "I feel like I should submit all my articles to the community to get them Wikipedia-ized. I can't wait to print this in "Esquire" magazine."

References

External links

* [http://www.ajjacobs.com Official website]
* [http://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/features/2003/apr/encyclopedia/"Encyclopedia Man"] , NPR. February 2004.
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/books/review/03QUEENAN.html "'The Know-It-All': A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing"] , New York Times. October 2004
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/books/review/13JACOBSL.html "I Am Not A Jackass"] , New York Times. February 2005
* [http://www.esquire.com/ESQ0905OUTSOURCING_214 "My Outsourced Life"] , Esquire Magazine. September 2005.
* [http://www.esquire.com/features/hotwoman0507 "My Life As A Hot Woman"] , Esquire Magazine. May 2007.
* [http://www.esquire.com/features/honesty0707 "I Think You're Fat"] , Esquire Magazine. August 2007.
* [http://news.com.com/Esquire+wikis+article+on+Wikipedia/2100-1038_3-5885171.html "Esquire wikis article on Wikipedia"] , NEWS.COM. September 2005.