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A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning

A.J. Jacobs tries to get inside the minds of the Founding Fathers by living as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution. He asserts his right to free speech by writing his opinions on parchment with a quill and handing them out to strangers in Times Square. He consents to quartering a soldier, as is his Third Amendment right. He turns his home into a traditional 1790s household by lighting candles instead of using electricity, boiling mutton, and --- because women were not allowed to sign contracts --- feebly attempting to take over his wife’s day job, which involves a lot of contract negotiations. The book blends unforgettable adventures --- delivering a handwritten petition to Congress, battling redcoats as part of a Revolutionary War reenactment group --- with dozens of interviews from constitutional experts from both sides.

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Week of May 5, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of May 5th include THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese, a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith and medicine that follows three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret; Lucy Foley's THE MIDNIGHT FEAST, a deliciously twisty locked-room mystery set at a luxe coastal retreat; I WILL RUIN YOU, an intriguing psychological thriller from Linwood Barclay, in which a teacher’s act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer; Ann Hood's THE STOLEN CHILD, a moving, page-turning novel about   an unlikely duo venturing through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate; and THE YEAR OF LIVING CONSTITUTIONALLY, which chronicles A.J. Jacobs'  hilarious adventures in attempting to follow the original meaning of the Constitution, as he searches for answers to one of the most pressing issues of our time: How should we interpret America’s foundational document?  

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