Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

There are a lot of ways to "get healthier." A.J. Jacobs is aware of that, and so he spent two years exploring and researching, interviewing and experimenting, in an attempt to become the "healthiest man alive." (Take that with a grain of salt, because that can be both an objective and subjective opinion.)

At this point I've read quite a few of Jacobs' books. This actually may be my favorite of his so far. He breaks the book down somewhat loosely into body parts and body systems, interviewing experts and exploring methods and theories in order to determine what's "healthy". From diet and exercise to gadgets and clothing attire, he covers a wide variety of subjects. I didn't really find any of the chapters dry and I was listening intently show more to the entire audiobook. Jacobs is known for blending facts with humor, and this book was no exception. I actually find his interactions with his wife Julie (and to a lesser degree, their three sons) during his experiments the most entertaining, and sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall in their home. There are still a few of Jacobs' newer releases that I've not yet read, so I'm looking forward to those. show less

Another amusing book from the self-experimenting Jacobs, who this time around conducts all sorts of health-related projects. Some of them are commonsensical (exercising more, eating less), but others range from the trendy (the Paleo diet, barefoot running) to the neurotic (wearing noise-canceling headphones everywhere) to the outright bizarre. (Apologies to those who actually use neti pots, but I find the picture at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_irrigation a little off-putting.) Jacobs chronicles his quest with his characteristic good humor, and is willing not only to say when certain remedies are either impractical or unproven, but is able to poke fun at himself whenever he goes completely overboard - which, thankfully for show more readers, is very, very often. show less

In this book of "immersion journalism", author A.J. Jacobs works on a two-year program for getting himself healthy. He does this by focusing on one body part at a time in order to increase his personal health. I loved his "check-in" pages. Those were pages in which he gave his weight and other interesting statistics. I was checking to see if he and I were losing weight at the same rate or not (well, it varied!).

One thing I especially liked about this book was that the author was not a "health nut" which meant that he could look at many ideas of "getting healthy" with curiosity as well as skepticism. During this time, his wife was a patient partner, but sometimes merely an onlooker. What touched me most about this book, though, were the show more descriptions of the relationships he had with his grandfather and his eccentric aunt. What do they have to do with health? Read the book, and you will find out.

Drop Dead Healthy was such a fun read that I was sorry it ended. I had no idea that this book was going to be so funny. The only chapter that was not funny, oddly enough, was one about a laughing club. However, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the other laughs provided by this author and hope to pick up at least one more of his books soon. show less

I have to admit, I was really hesitant to read a health book, but it turns out that this book isn't just a regular, boring book about all the stuff you have to go without to be healthy. Jacobs spends 2 years focusing on specific areas of the body and, through research and talking to various doctors and experts, he tries different diets, practices, exercises, and a myriad other things to become "the healthiest man alive". Of course, that's nearly impossible to do. But through Jacobs' stories and experiments, I learned a lot about the human body and the creative, and sometimes insane, things people do to be healthy. I was even inspired to start living my life in a more healthy way (although I won't be running around barefoot with show more noise-cancelling headphones).

Jacobs has a humorous and self-deprecating writing style, which makes this book all the more entertaining. I want to pick up his other books (about his year of living biblically and about the time he decided to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica). show less

As always, a thoughtful, humorous, and quirky adventure. A.J. digs into his topic with gusto and explores just about every avenue for being as healthy as possible. Hearing HIM read it was a bonus. Lots of fun!

In a nutshell: Journalist A J Jacobs decides that it’s time to get healthy, but rather than gong down the more conventional route of eating better and moving more, he decides to focus on a different part or area of the body each month and investigate how to make that particular part the healthiest it can be. This involves learning about lots of differing and (often contrasting) health theories and experiments/studies, and speaking to several experts. There’s a fair amount of quackery going on, but Jacobs takes note of everything he hears, and is prepared to give anything a try.

It’s definitely entertaining and often amusing. For my money, it was not “riotous, madcap” as one review on the cover put it, and it did not make me show more “laugh my ass off,” as claimed by another review. But it was engaging and easy to read – it explored the science and thinking behind the studies and claims, but did not get too bogged down in technicalities. Jacobs is clearly a huge worrier and he knows it – something that I identify strongly with – and catastrophises a lot, always imagining the worst case scenario (again – this was hugely relatable to me). He’s very engaging and very likeable, which heightened my enjoyment.

One thing to note is that Jacobs lives in New York and this book is very American leaning. Not a problem for me, but some of the things that he tries might not be so accessible to people who don’t live in such a metropolis where everything conceivable relating to health is pretty much on the doorstep!

It’s not a healthy living book, and certainly not to be taken as guidance, as he himself makes clear.

In summary, if you are looking for a hilarious madcap adventure, then I would not say that this is it. But it was an enjoyable and if you like (mostly) light-hearted non-fiction, then you might well enjoy this. show less

The Good Stuff

I think this is my favorite non-fiction books this year
Author is self deprecating and you know I adore that in a writer
Truly fascinating, unique and positively hilarious
Touched by his obvious love for his wife and children and the appreciation he has for them putting up with all his shenanigans
I need to read all the rest of his books now
Has a "Super Size Me" feel to it
He is a master at transitioning from one topic to the next - very impressive!
Classy and tactful
I have never laughed this hard while reading a non-fiction book before & I have read ALOT of hilarious non-fiction
Enjoyed the comments from his wife about some of the things he did -- she sounds like a fabulous woman
Best idea ever for motivating someone show more to stop doing something - don't want to spoil it for you but page 231 in my ARC
The bit about Coco Chanel will make you laugh
Inspired me to make some changes in my life

The Not So Good Stuff

If he was my husband I would have killed him by now with all the crazy stuff he does
When I read about the Dr who actually performs surgery to change the sounds of your farts - I laughed so hard the cat jumped off my lap and left nasty scratch marks on me -- A.J. you owe me some polysporin
Now have sudden urge for dried mango's

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"I want to be around to teach the importance of having compassion and why the original Willy Wonka is superior to the remake."

"If done properly, with enough protein and B12 supplements, it's certainly better than the Standard American Diet. (Then again, eating nothing but asbestos sandwiches is probably better than the Standard American Diet.)

"His quotes are both hilarious and inspiring: "Fifteen minutes to warm up? Does a lion warm up when he's hungry? 'Uh-oh, here comes an antelope. Better warm up.' No! He just goes out there and eats the sucker." I printed that out and put it on my wall next to the passage about Carl Sagan."

"Though in the case of my children, the rate is much higher. It's amazing how a strip of sticky plastic will make my kids' pain vanish. Lucas will be howling about a stepped-on finger, but as soon as the SpongeBob Band-Aid touches his pinkie, he is all smiles. My sons are so convinced of the magical healing powers of Band-Aids, they think they can solve almost any problem. A couple of years ago, when our Sony TV blew a fuse, Jasper stuck a Band-Aid on the screen hoping to revive it."

What I learned

About who created the graham cracker and why he created it (No I am not telling you - go buy the book - or go to your local library and pick up a copy - and while you are there tell the Library workers how wonderful they are -- and maybe bring them some chocolate)
Tons of other fascinating facts about health and diet that sorta scared me at times
About Blueberries - trust me that was interesting

Who Should/Shouldn't Buy

Yup this one is a highly recommended read for everyone
This will be a Christmas purchase for the brother in laws -- all FOUR of them

5 Dewey's

I received book from Simon and Schuster in Exchange for an honest review show less