The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World |  | Author: A. J. Jacobs
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
List Price: $15.00
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Seller: snowlionbooks
Rating:  244 reviews
Sales Rank: 5183
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0743250621
Dewey Decimal Number: 031
EAN: 9780743250627
ASIN: 0743250621
Publication Date: October 4, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
33,000 PAGES44 MILLION WORDS 10 BILLION YEARS OF HISTORY 1 OBSESSED MAN Part memoir and part education (or lack thereof), The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A.J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z. To fill the ever-widening gaps in his Ivy League education, A.J. Jacobs sets for himself the daunting task of reading all thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His wife, Julie, tells him it's a waste of time, his friends believe he is losing his mind, and his father, a brilliant attorney who had once attempted the same feat and quit somewhere around Borneo, is encouraging but unconvinced. With self-deprecating wit and a disarming frankness, The Know-It-All recounts the unexpected and comically disruptive effects Operation Encyclopedia has on every part of Jacobs's life -- from his newly minted marriage to his complicated relationship with his father and the rest of his charmingly eccentric New York family to his day job as an editor at Esquire. Jacobs's project tests the outer limits of his stamina and forces him to explore the real meaning of intelligence as he endeavors to join Mensa, win a spot on Jeopardy!, and absorb 33,000 pages of learning. On his journey he stumbles upon some of the strangest, funniest, and most profound facts about every topic under the sun, all while battling fatigue, ridicule, and the paralyzing fear that attends his first real-life responsibility -- the impending birth of his first child. The Know-It-All is an ingenious, mightily entertaining memoir of one man's intellect, neuroses, and obsessions, and a struggle between the all-consuming quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 244
Now I want to read the entire encylcopedia November 13, 2009
Margaret M. Montet (Hamilton, NJ USA)
A.J. Jacobs is concerned that he is becoming dumb. In an attempt to halt his descent into dumbness, he resolves to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, (33,000 pages).He longs to become the Smartest Person in the World, and more importantly, smarter than his brother-in-law. Jacobs, an editor for Esquire and commentator for NPR, takes us on his hilarious odyssey from a-ak to zywiec. By inserting relevant anecdotes from his personal life, Jacobs makes us care about him, his evolving relationship with his father, and whether he and his wife Julie will ever become parents. We also wonder how Julie can endure the endless exasperating (yet comical) interjections of irrelevant facts during the year Jacobs reads the "E.B." Julie had to resort to charging A.J. a fine every time he states an unrelated factoid into a conversation. Ultimately, although he finishes the encyclopedia, his brother-in-law remains annoyingly smarter than him and Jacobs still doesn't win the coveted million-dollar prize on a television game show. This fun read supplies a lot of laughs and an abundance of facts we can use to enlighten our friends.
 A. J. JACOBS ATTEMPTS TO BECOME "THE KNOW-IT-ALL" AND DEMONSTRATES SOCRATES' QUOTE THAT "ALL HE KNOWS IS THAT HE KNOWS NOTHING" October 12, 2009
James H. Lister (Denton, MD USA)
A. J. Jacobs performed a feat few people have ever attempted. In the span of one year he totally read the prestigious "Encyclopedia Britannica". He points out trivia and humorous facts. Jacobs concludes that knowing a vast totality of isolated facts doesn't bestow wisdom upon a person. Facts must be coupled with ideas, insight, astute perception, abstract thought, flexibility, imagination and logic. Consequently, comprehensively reading this stalwart encyclopedia will render great knowledge but not the greatest of all knowlege: intellect molded by wisdom.
"The Know-It-All" is a fantastic book. It is a stupendous intellectual adventure. I highly recommend Jacobs' book to everyone who is in love with knowledge and education. A. J. Jacobs in the final analysis proves that although a person may attempt to become a "know-it-all" they actually become a "know a lot" person. In regards to the seemingly infinite amount of knowlege still unsurveyed by human beings in the universe all of we humans are as the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates asserted: "All we know is that we know nothing".
Jacobs' herculean encyclopedic reading accomplishment causes me to reminisce about the time back in the 1970's when I completely read the "World Book Encyclopedia". I did not own the "Encyclopedia Britannica" at that time. If I had I would have exhaustively read it. I also read the complete fifty four volume set of Dr. Mortimer Adler's compilation of the "Great Books of the Western World". In addition I totally read the massively thick "The Encyclopedia of Philosophy" that was edited by Paul Edwards. Cogitating about the academic contents of three encyclopedic sets was enough intellectual food for thought to boggle the mind.
I implore you to read "The Know-It-All". Even if you should never attempt the intellectual mountain climbing ascent that Jacobs did at least you will have read of Jacobs' scaling the Mt. Everest peak of book facts and viewing the awe-inspiring panoramic scene from the pinnacle.
trivia-minded October 11, 2009
Sharon K. Byers (St Louis, MO,USA)
for those of us with a fascination for facts, this is a book that should be longer! There's a personal factor, but only sketchily; the facts are the thing, and he has chosen well. I rationed this book out, evening by evening, one chapter (alphabetically arranged) at a time, instead of reading at my normal top speed....because I did not want it to end.
Surely Mr. Jacobs could get another book or two out of his project of reading the entire Encylopaedia Brittanica!
Don't worry, it's not a Cliff's Notes version of the Encyclopedia September 29, 2009
Shetu Shah (Atlanta, GA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you like random facts, Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy!, etc., then you'll love The Know It All. If the aforementioned doesn't excite you (e.g., my wife and other carpool mates), then you'll chide The Know It All in public but secretly enjoy it.
No, this is not a Cliff's Notes version of the Encyclopedia (though it's quite close). TKIA chronicle's a man's life while he reads the Encyclopedia: why he's reading it; interpersonal relationships with his father, wife, and brother-in-law; and his frustrations with the dumbing down of America.
Don't worry, there's plenty of juicy bits for the trivia enthusiasts like how being nice helped Martin Van Buren win the presidency, how an oak table and a cloudy sky played significant roles in WWII, and how Greenland got its name.
This book is also great for people who read in short bursts. There are good stopping points on just about every page, so if you have 5 minutes to read during a commercial or 20 minutes on a commute to work or 2 hours on a flight, you can read without pausing right when you're getting to the good stuff.
I'll admit I cheated a little; I got the audio book. The narration is fantastic! It's nowhere near the monotony one might expect from a book about someone reading the Encyclopedia. Parents be forewarned, the book should be rated PG for some adult situations and adult language -- I guess one can get easily frustrated when taking on such a task.
Overall TKIA is a fun, enlightening, and addictive book -- it's also the best audio book I've listened to (out of 4). If you appreciate the virtues of being a nerd, if you want the insider report on a Mensa convention, or if you just love the quest for knowledge, then buy this book.
Great fun September 3, 2009
anonymous (London, UK)
As the blurb on the cover says, the book is about the author deciding to read the Encyclopedia Britannica top to bottom. The mix of interesting facts and trivia and memoirs and anecdotes about his quest, and the other "characters" - wife, father, impossibly brilliant brother-in-law, friends - and their reactions to his project, and the author's writing talent and sense of humor make this a highly entertaining book.
Now, since I'm reading his next book I know the author reads the amazon reviews, so I'm hoping he won't be offended by what I'm about to say, since it's actually meant as a great compliment: this book also happens to be a perfect "thinking man bathroom read". Its very short chapters, where something funny or enlightening or curious or interesting happens almost at every page, are just perfect for this use...
As other reviewers mentioned, I was sorry to get to Z...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 244
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