Books by author: Timothy Ferriss

Tim Ferriss is as over-the-top as they come. He has spent more than a decade trying dozens of different techniques for reducing fat, increasing strength, adding muscle, and (ahem) producing orgasms. This book compiles his best tips for all of these areas and more.

Is it credible? Perhaps. Nearly all of Ferriss's recommendations are based on small studies and self-experimentation, and the documentation of his self-experimentation is obsessive. He goes to great lengths to explain why he thinks his techniques work (including some of the scientific rationale), and many of them probably do, but it's crucial to approach this kind of thing with a big dose of skepticism.

I'm starting with a few small changes to make my diet more conducive to fat loss and my workouts more effective, but most of the recommendations in this book go beyond what I'm willing to try for now. However, if I succeed in dropping a few pounds of fat and improving my aerobic capacity, I'll probably be back for more.

Tim Ferriss has managed to be very successful financially, while ensuring that his businesses need very little of his attention. This has afforded him the opportunity to travel the world living a life of adventure and leisure. In this book, he claims that you can do it too, and if your primary motivation is to not work much, it may be possible to follow his advice successfully.

I agree with some of Ferriss's points. In particular, I agree that the American dream—saving up a bundle of money so that you can quit working at age 65—may not be the best plan. Instead, I love his suggestion of having a few mini-retirements while you are still young enough to do something adventurous and possibly life-changing. Having children makes that a little difficult, but as a personal example, I fully intend to take a couple of whole summers off while my kids are still living at home. One will probably be a cross-country road trip. The other...who knows?