The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
by A. J. Jacobs
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Book Summary Information
Author: A. J. JacobsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-04
ISBN: 0743250621
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
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Summary: 4 Stars
"The Know-It-All" by A. J. Jacobs chronicles one man's yearlong pursuit of knowledge by reading the entire 33,000 pages of the "Encyclopędia Britannica." Jacobs relentlessly chronicles his victory over the 32 volumes and 44 million words in an attempt to become the world's smartest man. During the course of the book Jacobs discusses the similarities and differences between knowing facts, thinking, intelligence, wisdom, learning, and IQ, and discusses several theories of intelligence and learning with authorities such as Yale professor Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, who educates Jacobs on the matter (at tells him that reading the "Encyclopędia Britannica" is a waste of time.)
The book alphabetically tracks Jacob's reading, with numerous breaks for personal anecdotes and historical perspectives. When he wants to be Jacobs is exceptionally funny; an entry for "Glyndwr" simply reads "A district in Wales. Please buy a vowel." He can also be serious at times, normally when discussing his family, and especially in describing his and his wife Julie's infertility problems. This normally struck the right note, but the virtually never-ending whining about Julie's inability to conceive eventually grew tiresome. Infertility can be heartbreaking, but unless you're writing a book on infertility, a little angst goes a long way, and a little detail goes even further. This is the only thing that stopped me from giving the book five stars.
As the book progresses Jacobs joins Mensa (on the basis of his ancient SAT scores,) meets Alex Trebek, which disqualifies him from going on "Jeopardy" for life, so he eventually goes on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and stumbles on the definition of an "erythrocyte" at the $16,000 level. (I must admit I momentarily felt a bit smug that I knew that it was a red blood cell, then I remembered my undergraduate degree was in biology.) Jacobs enters crossword puzzle contests ("Let's cruciverb it up!") and goes to the "Britannica" headquarters in Chicago, where the editors challenge him with typical tasks. In all these activities Jacobs learns humility, but good-naturedly shares his foibles openly, making him likeable and a bit vulnerable (speaking of vulnerable, he once posed nude for "Esquire" as part of an assignment involving Mary-Louise Parker who agreed to pose nude only if the editor assigned to the piece did as well. Talk about put up or shut up.)
Throughout the book, Jacobs has a keen eye for the absurd, and has no shortage of commentary on the most unusual entries in the "Britannica." Two of my favorite examples are the discussions of entries on the kappa, and the biographical entry on Pythagoras. The kappa, according to Jacobs, is "the strangest type of supernatural being I've encountered so far: a 'vampirelike lecherous creature' from Japan that's obsessed with cucumbers, resembles a green monkey with fish scales, and refuses to lower its head for fear of spilling the magic water it keeps in the holes on top of its skull." While that is amusing as a freestanding entry, Jacobs kicks the comedy up a notch by noting "I don't know who came up with this, but I can almost guarantee those weren't shiitake mushrooms he was eating." Anyone who has seen Japanese television knows that the spirit of the kappa lives on in modern Japan.
Pythagoras ("one of the quirkiest men in the encyclopedia") not only invented his famous theorem about triangles, but was also a "complete and total wacko." How strange was he? He founded his own religious brotherhood, and members of the brotherhood were instructed to "refrain from speaking about the holy, wear white clothes, observe sexual purity, not touch beans, and so forth." Not even limas?
The book is a fun, original, and quirky account of one man's obsession, with generous doses of social commentary, self-deprecating humor, and bizarre trivia. I appreciate Jacobs' achievement (and wish I'd thought of it first,) and recommend the book to smart people who love language, who have slightly warped senses of humor (and well developed senses of the absurd,) and who simply enjoy reading about quasi-heroic academically-oriented conquests.
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