Many, many thanks to A.J. Jacobs, my friend and former colleague 
at Entertainment Weekly, now a mainstay at Esquire and famous Oprah-appearing author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically, who last Thursday visited the class in magazine writing that I teach at Marymount Manhattan College. A.J. talked about how he got his start in writing (he worked at a paper outside of San Francisco, and rode the sewage beat to the big time), where his ideas come from, the challenges he faces in executing his particular, Plimpton-like particapatory stories, and the role his wife plays in his work (germane). He said that he hadn’t been particularly religious before undertaking his Year of Living Biblically, in which he scrupulously followed Old Testament teachings, but that he definitely feels more spiritual now. I also liked his reply to one question about whether he meant to be serious or satirical when he wrote about these subjects. “Both,’ he answered, sensibly. As Willie Shakes observed, “Many a truth is told in jest.” It was awfully good of A.J. to come by. The class certainly learned a lot from him.
Wow, our professor is writing about our class! Does this mean I
will have to part my hair more carefully now? Seriously, Jamie,
you did good when you invited A.J.Jacobs to our class so we
might interview him. Laughter resounded. But I’m still sweating
out the Jacobs’ profile you assigned.
You should always part your hair carefully. It’s the first rule of magazine writing.