Drop Dead Healthy

One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

By: A. J. Jacobs

Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs

A New York Times bestseller in hardcover, a chronicle of A.J. Jacob’s mission to radically improve every element of his body and mind—from his brain to his fingertips to his abs.

From the bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All comes the truly hilarious story of one person’s quest to become the healthiest man in the world.

Hospitalized with a freak case of tropical pneumonia and ashamed of a middle-aged body best described as “a python that swallowed a goat,” A.J. Jacobs felt compelled to change his ways and get healthy. To accomplish this epic task, he consulted an army of experts and subjected himself to dozens of different workouts, diets, and devices—from Finger Fitness to Strollercize sessions, veganism to extreme chewing.

The story of his transformation is not only brilliantly entertaining, but it just may be the healthiest book ever written. It will make you laugh until your sides split and endorphins flood your bloodstream. It will move you emotionally and get you moving physically in surprising ways. It will serve you up today’s best health advice. And it will give you occasion to reflect on the body’s many mysteries and the ultimate pursuit of health: a well-lived life.

Funny, perhaps even motivational

What was one of the most memorable moments of Drop Dead Healthy?

The idea of the walking desk is genius, and to know that he walked more than 1,000 miles literally while writing the book is fantastic.

Any additional comments?

This book was far more amusing than anticipated, although I should have expected it would be with how entertaining Jabobs' other books have been. Overall, I learned some things about what it was like to transition to a healthy lifestyle. I won't be instituting all of the changes he made (caveman, laughing room, etc) to my life, but I might actually do some of the things he did.

Very enjoyable, particularly if you're looking for amusing storytelling and not emotional, life-changing literature.

Entertaining but also enlightening

A. J. Jacobs spent two years trying out virtually every health fad. Some were offbeat while others made sense. I could almost see him getting healthier as the months clicked by. He also is the narrator and an engaging one at that. Highly recommended.

Great, but one tiny flaw

I love this book and Jacobs' narration. However, the beginning of many words is cut off. Is it him or the recorder or my car stereo? Instead of "mystery" it might sound like "istory". This was about 1/10th of the words. Otherwise, fabulous book and narration.

Interesting story but not that helpful

If you’ve listened to books by A. J. Jacobs before, how does this one compare?

This is the first introduction to AJ Jacobs. I guess I expected this book to be less narrative. I was expecting more about what was learned and less about what was going on in his life while he researched for the book. It's more a diary than a self help book.

What didn’t you like about A. J. Jacobs’s performance?

Jacobs should have gotten a professional to read the audio book. I'm not sure what it is about his voice that distracts me from the words he is saying, but it is very distracting.

Witty but Generic

The book excels when the author is laughing at himself and when he gives the best lines to his wife or family. I did laugh out loud multiple times. He does jump around frequently from fad to fad and even with that there is some good random advice. Best advice of all, he mentions that he listens to NPR on his podcasts and he learned he could speed up the playback. After realizing I could speed up his narration, I immediately did and his reading performance was much better. He's a much better listen at one and half speed.

At least in regards to lowering stress and the laughing club for example, there is some redundancy with Jonathan Haidt's "The Happiness Hypothesis". I noticed when they cover the same topic, I much prefer Jonathan Haidt's book.