The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
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A hilarious, intelligent-trivia-packed story from a man who read the entire ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. Early in his career, A. J. Jacobs found himself putting his Ivy League education to work at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. After five years he learned which stars have fake boobs, which stars have toupees, which have both, and not much else. This unsettling realization led Jacobs on a life-changing quest: to read the entire contents of the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, all 33,000 pages, all 44 million words. Jacobs accumulates useful and less-so knowledge, and along the way finds a deep connection with his father (who attempted the same feat when Jacob's was a child), examines the nature of knowledge vs. intelligence, and learns how to be rather annoying at cocktail parties. Part memoir/part-education (or lack thereof), the chapters are organized by the letters of the alphabet. The Washington Post - Christopher Byrd Fueled by candor, memoirs are an ideal forum for someone who wants to be appreciated, so it tidily works out that Jacobs's candor about his own catty behavior and the temptation to look smart is endearing. In his all-American effort to better himself, he hasn't renounced his love of entertainment. Plucked with care, the book's facts will provide enough anecdotes to perk up conversations and weather the season's social events. More substantially, The Know-It-All belongs to the category of literary expeditions whose chief reward is their nudging toward a fantastic, heretofore forbidding, work.
