The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

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The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 15,700 ratings · 1,867 reviews

33,000 PAGES 44 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...more

Paperback, 389 pages

Published October 4th 2005 by Simon & Schuster (first published January 1st 2004)

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Lists with This Book

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Best Non-Fiction (non biography)

75th out of 2,088 books — 3,730 voters

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

A Year in the Life

7th out of 99 books — 154 voters

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Jun 19, 2011 Sparrow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir-biography, reviewed

This was a little more like actually reading the Encyclopedia Britannica than I was really prepared for. I think it took me longer to read this book than it took Jacobs to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, too. So, I’m not sure what that says about my reading stamina. It took Jacobs something like a year to read the encyclopedia? I think it took me two years to read this book. Although I don’t really get how it’s possible that it took him a year because I feel like way more than half of t...more This was a little more like actually reading the Encyclopedia Britannica than I was really prepared for. I think it took me longer to read this book than it took Jacobs to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, too. So, I’m not sure what that says about my reading stamina. It took Jacobs something like a year to read the encyclopedia? I think it took me two years to read this book. Although I don’t really get how it’s possible that it took him a year because I feel like way more than half of the book was about Jacobs and his wife trying to get pregnant, but then she was seven months pregnant when the book was over. Maybe he just read a lot more during the first half of the year. Or maybe it took him more than a year. I can’t go back and check. Anyway, writing a review of this book is pretty meta because the book itself is basically a goodreads.com review of the encyclopedia. Ambitious. So this is a review of a review of the encyclopedia.

I am terrible at retaining factual knowledge long term, and I’d have to say I probably kind of avoid learning trivial facts – dates, names, places. I guess, using the word “trivial” is wrong because it sounds like they are less important than other facts, but what I mean is that systems and theories make more sense to me, and I’m not good with factual data. It’s probably because of that that Jacob’s Year of Living Biblically was more entertaining to me. Know-It-All is basically about whether there is value in knowing a lot of facts, where Biblically is about the value of religion. Both have this OCD intensity, combined with a charming humility. It’s very disarming, but at the same time disconcerting in some way. Obviously, he cares enough about these projects to follow through with them, but at the same time, most of the books are about him being self-conscious about the fact that he’s doing the projects, but he’s also proud enough of them to publish books about them. I guess it’s good that he recognizes the projects are unusual.

Jacobs writes the kind of review here that not everybody likes – it’s filled with personal anecdotes about how the encyclopedia affected him and what he was doing when reading sections of it. I find that interesting, but it is not for everyone. There is also a lot of trivia in here that relates to random legal facts and stories that I learned this past year in school – like the three-mile rule and the Bird in Space story. That was cool. I guess, again, Biblically made more sense to me because I’ve spent a lot of time considering the value of religion and of interpretations of spiritual texts, where I’ve always been pretty comfortable with my cursory decision that reading an entire encyclopedia is of no interest to me. That’s just a personal preference, and you could feel the opposite.

Anyway, I have a crush on A.J. Jacobs. He’s charming and smart, but still has some perspective. His wife is probably a saint, and she seems pretty charming, too. Maybe I have a little crush on their whole family. That adds a little sparkle to my read of his stories.(less)

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Aug 15, 2007 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who scoffs at the world book

Shelves: 2007reads

first of all, since when is "i spent a year ________ing" a trendy model for a book? seems like they're all over the place now, but i don't remember seeing quite the plethora before. my friend beth spent a year following the advice of self-help gurus; a.j. jacobs read the entire encyclopedia brittanica. and then there's that me & julia cooking lady; karaoke nation; the dishwasher book; self-made man (the gal who posed as a dude); early bird (the guy who spent a year at a retirement community...more first of all, since when is "i spent a year ________ing" a trendy model for a book? seems like they're all over the place now, but i don't remember seeing quite the plethora before. my friend beth spent a year following the advice of self-help gurus; a.j. jacobs read the entire encyclopedia brittanica. and then there's that me & julia cooking lady; karaoke nation; the dishwasher book; self-made man (the gal who posed as a dude); early bird (the guy who spent a year at a retirement community in boca raton); kingsolver's latest on how she ate organic; jacobs' forthcoming book, in which he apparently spends a year trying to adhere to the rules of the bible. oy! and that's just off the top of my head! what ever happened to being hired by harper's to write a 10,000 word article about your week aboard a cruise ship?

anyway, i liked jacobs' book a lot. are there flaws? yes, there are flaws. but, as i learned from the book, there are flaws even in the venerable e.b. (a couple of typos; the fudged fact that robert frost graduated from harvard). he's a little self-consciously nerdy (how many times can he stutter out irrelevant facts in inappropriate social situations and leave the listeners nonplussed?), and i cared so not at all about his struggle to have a baby (i guess i'm hard-hearted, but in my mind upper-middle class fertility issues don't qualify as plot). the biggest problem i had, though, was his occasional astonishing shallowness. here's (some of) his entry on sylvia plath:
"what is it with writers and suicide?.... i find the whole phenomenon a bit baffling. as far as jobs go, writers have a pretty sweet deal. you make your own hours, the dress code is remarkably lax. you rarely strain your back, you don't have your phone calls recorded for training purposes, and you don't have to intentionally lose to clients at golf. and the ladies like you.... these writers need to buck up and suck up and keep the nooses off their damn necks."
hmmm. reducing plath and lowell and hemingway to a cheeky esquire-esque sidebar kinda proved how much he didn't learn from his year after all. plus, it kinda made my blood boil. just buck up, you tortured geniuses!
i absorbed some great facts along the way, though: lightning strikes up; descartes had a fetish for cross-eyed women; the couple in american gothic are the painter's sister and his dentist; in roman times, a mime show often included live sex acts and actual executions.
p.s. i have a set of world books staring at me from the shelf right now. do i smell a publishing contract?
(p.p.s. i just noticed there's something out there called a know-it-all calendar. ick!)(less)

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Aug 16, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, humor

What a thoroughly enjoyable book!

When Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs sets out to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, you can guess you're going to get lots of interesting trivia tidbits from the world's leading compendium of knowledge.

But what makes the book far more rewarding is that A.J. Jacobs is flat out funny. And after suffering through all the authors who attempt to write humor and do it badly, it is so good to be able to say that. I found myself laughing out loud every couple of pages....more What a thoroughly enjoyable book!

When Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs sets out to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, you can guess you're going to get lots of interesting trivia tidbits from the world's leading compendium of knowledge.

But what makes the book far more rewarding is that A.J. Jacobs is flat out funny. And after suffering through all the authors who attempt to write humor and do it badly, it is so good to be able to say that. I found myself laughing out loud every couple of pages.

Just a few tidbits:

At one point (under the word "tutelage"), Jacobs goes to visit a writing class, which has "about a dozen students who want to shed their real jobs and join the lucrative field of writing, where you can earn lots of money if your name happens to include both the words 'Stephen' and 'King.'"

Or, the entry for "heroin"

"Heroin was first developed by the Bayer Company. That'll whisk your headache away faster than a couple of dozen aspirin. Take two syringefuls and call me in the morning. Or late afternoon."

Or, under "Ghandi," after the Britannica tells him that Ghandi had a rebellious streak as an adolescent, even eating (gasp) meat, Jacobs writes:

"Gandhi -- that little thug! I wonder if other parents in Porbandar told their kids, 'For the last time, I don't want you hanging around with that bad seed Mohandas!' this gives me Movie Idea Number Three: 'Young Ghandi,' with Frankie Muniz as the cigarette-sucking, burger-eating pickpocket who eventually accepts his fate as the most saintly man alive."

Along the way, we learn about Jacobs' hypochondria, his attempts with wife Julie to have a baby, his parents and other relatives, and go along with him as he joins a Mensa outing, competes on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, interviews Alex Trebek and does other smartest man in the world activities.

Most of the book is a fascinating funny romp through the world of facts, but in the end, it also is heartwarming, and you actually care about what happens to A.J. and Julie and the other people in his life.

And you learn such great trivia as the fact that only human beings and Dalmatians produce uric acid in their pee.(less)

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Mar 28, 2008 Edward rated it 3 of 5 stars

I saw this dude in person talking about his newer book ("The Year of Living Bibically"): he seemed quirky, intelligent, curious, funny, and overall quite interesting. In time I saw that he used the same one-liners in every medium available and he was kind of obnoxious, but this was before that. He cast quite a spell on me and I knew I wanted to buy one of his books then. He had just talked about "The Year", it was newer, and honestly it just seemed a lot more interesting than a book about readin...more

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Oct 18, 2008 Louis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: humour

I loved this book.Reminds me of when I was a child and would read the encyclopedia because there was nothing else in the house.Extremely funny, one of the only books to actually make me laugh out loud no matter where I was.

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Oct 25, 2008 Eliza rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, out-on-loan

I laughed out loud repeatedly through this book. I even made my husband read it

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Aug 18, 2008 Abby rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this book A.J. Jacobs reads the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A- Z, in an attempt to become the smartest person alive. I can understand. I LOVED the encyclopedia when I was a kid. However, it was the World Book (with lots of pictures), and I didn't read it A-Z. I probably lingered on articles about cats and The Beatles way more than any about mathematical concepts or historical events. But still, I know what it's like to cuddle up with an encyclopedia for the evening, just like A.J.

Ther...more In this book A.J. Jacobs reads the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A- Z, in an attempt to become the smartest person alive. I can understand. I LOVED the encyclopedia when I was a kid. However, it was the World Book (with lots of pictures), and I didn't read it A-Z. I probably lingered on articles about cats and The Beatles way more than any about mathematical concepts or historical events. But still, I know what it's like to cuddle up with an encyclopedia for the evening, just like A.J.

There are so many reasons why I love this author. In fact, I was thrilled to find that I share with him many strange neurotic behaviors, which I thought belonged solely to me (except for his germaphobia - my kid can lick the street and I won't bat an eyelash).

FOR EXAMPLE: When he was in Jr. High school, he used to imagine that girls he had crushes on were watching him. Not just at school (where they ignored him), but at home, when he was alone in his bedroom. So he had to act cool, no matter what. Here is a secret about me: I always did the same thing. Actually, I still do. I imagine that someone is watching me when I am alone. Maybe it's my husband, my unborn children, girls who were mean to me in elementary school who would now be jealous of me, or maybe talent scouts. I do it on at least a semi-regular basis, especially when something cool happens to me and I want to rub it in the face of someone I used to know.

Here is an example of me imagining that people were always watching me: In 7th grade, this super creepy 8th grader named Sam came up to me at my locker and said, "Abby. I hope you know that I took the time to write you a note." I said, "Oh." And he handed me a folded up note and walked off. He had a tone of voice like we were having a big fight, but in reality we never talked. We were in the same math class, and I think he thought we were friends because I didn't make fun of him to his face like everyone else did. (I'm not proud of this time in my life, but he seriously was very creepy.) As of late, I had been making less eye contact in class, and the teacher had rearranged the seating chart so I no longer sat by him. I think he figured we were having a lover's spat.

Well, I was walking down the hall to my last period with the note in hand. I thought, "What would a totally cool girl do?" and I imagined the whole school was watching me. I acted very cool and tossed his note straight into the trash without reading it. Oh, if I could only go back in time and change that moment! I have always wondered what was in that note. Me and creepy Sam never spoke again the rest of the year.

Fast forward to my junior year in high school. We STILL have not spoken since that 7th grade moment, and he is still kind of creepy. However, I have grown up enough to realize that I don't have to shun him. He is in a photography class, and I am a photography T.A. (although not for his class). One day, I suddenly see him around the corner from the dark room, doing some make up work. I stand on the other side of the wall, debating whether or not I should walk to him and say, "Sam! How you doing? I know we haven't talked in years and all, but I accidentally lost a note you gave me back in 7th grade, and I have always meant to ask you what it said." But no matter how many times I tried to figure out a casual way to ask, it didn't sound right. So I chickened out and went back to the classroom.

#1 regret of my life: Throwing away that note from Sam in 7th grade.
#2 regret of my life: Chickening out my junior year and not asking Sam what was in that note.

Dear God, can you help me meet Sam at the grocery store sometime? I just have a very important little question to ask him. Also, it would help if you could make him less creepy so that I don't chicken out. Thanks!(less)

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Jun 10, 2008 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

This book chronicles snarky rich kid (he is actually 35) A.J. Jacob's quest to read The Encyclopedia Brittanica from A-Z, in an attempt to become "the smartest person in the world". Jacobs breaks the book into alphabetical chapters and free-associates on the entries that he finds interesting. This book was by no means dull, but it was interesting in the way that flipping through the encyclopedia or the dictionary yourself is interesting-- as you scan the pages you find weird little tidbits that...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Cies Charbeneau rated it 4 of 5 stars

I suppose to be fair it is January 2 since it is now 2:00 in the morning, but I planned on writing this before the day was out and that is will enough for me to put down the 1st instead of the 2nd.
Starting a blog is a very daunting task. There are millions of them out there on every subject imaginable, and that makes it so much harder for me to believe that anyone would find what I have to say interesting. Instead I remind myself that I find what I have to say interesting and if no one else wan...more I suppose to be fair it is January 2 since it is now 2:00 in the morning, but I planned on writing this before the day was out and that is will enough for me to put down the 1st instead of the 2nd.
Starting a blog is a very daunting task. There are millions of them out there on every subject imaginable, and that makes it so much harder for me to believe that anyone would find what I have to say interesting. Instead I remind myself that I find what I have to say interesting and if no one else wants to hear what I have to say at least I have satisfied myself.
My goal for the New Year is to elaborate on a recurring theme in my life. I love to read. I’m kinda a book whore. I’ll give everything an honest try with the exceptions of a few books like Confessions of an Heiress by the beloved Paris Hilton or anything by Anne Coulter (and I know she’d do me the same favor). So I am proud to say on the first day of 2008 I have finished a book: The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World A.J. Jacobs.
I have never once desired to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover, but A.J. Jacobs decides that he will tackle to monstrous volumes of knowledge in a vain attempt to become the smartest man in the world. Though in Jacobs’ case the vainness is neither smug nor condescending, he truly seeks knowledge.
Within the course of his year long journey from A to Z, Jacob recounts more than factoids and useless dates in history, he explores the birth of the Britannica itself. It’s birth in Edinburgh, Scotland 1768, to it’s height of door to door salesman fame in the 60’s, to modern day adaptations that might seem antiquated, but never useless.
Jacob’s book is not a short hand version of the Britannica. It is in fact a memoir of his intellectual journey. He recounts his strange childhood obsession with being the smartest kid in the world. Unfortunately for Jacobs he was not the prodigy he thought he was has failed to dazzled Alex Trebek or an unfortunate group of tourist at the New York Historical Society museum when he attempted to dazzle them with his new found intellect.
The best part about this book is that I had my own intellectual journey parallel to Jacobs. Though I feel like I cheated since my journey took only two weeks and one book while Jacobs’ took a whole year, 32 volumes of book, and a stint on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. It is an appreciation for the journey that I think anyone can relate to; the need to expand our knowledge, whether or not it is used for the greater good, or in Jacob’s case to outwit his brother-in-law Eric.

(less)

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Mar 03, 2008 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

As anyone who knows me can attest, I generally spout information to anyone who will listen to me. Most conversations begin: I heard on NPR the other day . . . For example, did you know there's a marsupial species in Australia whose male population only lives 11 months, the last month of which is spent obsessed with procreating or that a cockroach can live up to ten days without a head? Just one of the many useless bits of knowledge I have tucked away. AJ Jacobs wrote "The Know-It-All" as a quest...more

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Mar 02, 2008 Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the first book by the author who wrote The Year of Living Biblically, which I read last month. In this one, Jacobs decides to become the smartest person in the world by reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica from beginning to end. Jacobs has a separate chapter for every letter, and within the chapter he divides the sections out by subjects within that letter - highlighting important facts for us, and throwing in stories about how this quest is affecting his personal life - mostly making him...more

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Jul 12, 2007 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Definitely food for you brain, but upon purchasing this book I wasn't aware the chapters of the book went from "A-Z" each chapter containing his favorite words/definitions, mixed in with narrative of his life. I liked the author, but sometimes he could really get on my nerves..if i heard one more mention of visiting his parents in "East Hampton" and countless mentions of being an "upper middle class New Yorker" writing on his "white Macintosh lap book", or his complaining about how he couldn't g...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Kelli rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book taught me A LOT! The author is reading the entire Britannica encyclopedia and picks out interesting topics from each letter. He told a little bit more, O.K. a lot more, about his personal life than I wanted to know, but he had to make it interesting somehow.
Being a typical guy, he has to tell about the most perverted things he reads about. However, he also writes a lot about good lessons he learns from his reading. I felt like the author changed his perspective on life for the better...more

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Mar 24, 2008 Christine added it

I really liked this book! I loved how his wife would sort of ignore him when he would tell her a fact, then she implemented the $1 fine rule for every fact that was not pertinent to the situation. I can't imagine reading the EB - the print is terribly small and the pages are super thin. Carting those books on vacation doesn't seem like fun either. But good for this guy for sticking it out - it seems like something I would say I was going to do and then quit about 120 pages in. I was amazed at th...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Embee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I purchased this book as a birthday present for my husband. I mean, look at the title... It has his name on it! (Sorry hon, you know I mean well.) While reading the book my husband would share with me funny little tid-bits and upon completion, told me he thought I'd really enjoy it... Why? Because I'm a 'Know it All' too? No, that can't possibly be true!

Anyway, this book is Great Fun! I know it sounds like the story of a guy recounting his foray into reading the entire library of Encyclopedia Br...more

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Dec 30, 2008 MJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was a little disturbed that my running partners gave this to me for Christmas and thought it was funny. However, it turned out to be a great read! A.J. Jacobs is an editor for Esquire magazine, and decides to read the Encyclopeadia Brittanica from A to Z. It takes him about a year and this book is a chronicle of what he learns about knowledge vs. intelligence and the acquisition of wisdom. The back story is that while he is reading the EB he and his wife are expecting their first child. It is...more

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Sep 04, 2008 Sherry Wittman rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was awesome! Kind of like a hilarious, abbreviated version of a set of encyclopedias!

It's found under humor, but is sort of a memoir? The guy complains his brain is turning to mush because the only information he takes in lately is regarding pop-culture. Why can he name all the members of N'Sync, yet forgets major historical events? So he sets out on a quest for knowledge and commits to reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

This book includes author-deemed high-points of the encycloped...more

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Aug 17, 2007 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting and fun concept—Jacobs reads the entire encyclopedia Britannica, and his book documents his progress through commentary on his entries, his life, his evolving relationship with his father and his marriage etc. The tone bothered me, though—to egocentric and much of the attempted humor fell flat. Mostly just felt like he was trying too hard. An overall review is tough because the writing pretty much sucked, but it really is interesting to read the little summaries of certain encyclo...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Rodney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anyone who has read Jacobs' other work will be in familiar territory. He has the same basic setup for each of his books. Something pops into his mind and makes him think. He then dedicates a significant amount of time pursuing an answer to that conundrum.
This time AJ has decided that he will read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover; A to Z. Why would anyone want to do this? Jacobs reveals that it is a mixture of pride (he's always thought of himself as one of the smartest people he...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Inga rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stuff

Der Untertitel von A.J.Jacobs' Buch lautet: Von einem der auszog, der klügste Mensch der Welt zu werden.
Um dieses überaus hoch gesteckte Ziel zu erreichen, wäre mir alles mögliche eingefallen, vermutlich aber nicht, ein Lexikon zu lesen! Wo bitte ist der Zusammenhang von Klugheit und der schieren Anhäufung von größtenteils unnützem Wissen?
Der Autor erzählt von seinen Erlebnissen während des Lesens der Britannica und den Effekt, den es auf ihn, seine Weltsicht, die Sicht der Welt (bzw. seiner Mit...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Dr. Tim added it

You may thnk that a memoir based on a chap trying to improve his knowledge base and become the "smartest person in the world" is self-indulgent and somewhat pointless. Perhaps. If you set aside this assumption, however, you are in for a treat. The very fact of what you are reading ensures that you yourelf will learn many things. Some are useful, interesting, fascinating and others are useless, predestrian and dull. That said, I am a subscriber to the belief that knowledge is power and that acqui...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Abbe added it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-library

EDITORIAL REVIEW: 33,000 pages 44 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...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Encyclopedia Britannica is one of the most daunting volumes to ever be published. With “33,000 pages, 65,000 articles, 9,500 contributors and 2,400 images, the Britannica weighs in at roughly 4 pounds” (5) and contains 44,000 words. An average reader would quake in their boots at the very idea of reading all 32 encyclopedias. But A.J. Jacobs is on a mission to regain the knowledge he lost after accepting a job offer as editor at Esquire, a magazine that is seemingly devoted to nothing but ce...more The Encyclopedia Britannica is one of the most daunting volumes to ever be published. With “33,000 pages, 65,000 articles, 9,500 contributors and 2,400 images, the Britannica weighs in at roughly 4 pounds” (5) and contains 44,000 words. An average reader would quake in their boots at the very idea of reading all 32 encyclopedias. But A.J. Jacobs is on a mission to regain the knowledge he lost after accepting a job offer as editor at Esquire, a magazine that is seemingly devoted to nothing but celebrities, rock stars, and their lives. Jacobs points out, “Then, in the years since graduating college, I began a long, slow slide into dumbness. At age thirty-five, I’ve become embarrassingly ignorant…like many in my generation, I’ve watched my expensive college education recede into a haze...” (2). And with that, Jacobs embarks on his quest to read the Encyclopedia Britannica in its entirety and write a book about his experiences. And so The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World is born.
Adversaries abound as Jacobs makes his way down a perilous road fraught with Bud Abbott, absentee ballots in Ireland, erythrocytes, and the Babinski reflex. Jacobs’ dad, who once tried to read Britannica in its entirety himself, comments, “I hear the Ps are excellent,” (3), after being informed that his son is attempting to, in his words, “redeem the family honor,” (3). Jacobs’ wife, Julie, adds, “Sounds like kind of a waste of time…what about eating dinner at every restaurant in New York? You could start with the restaurants with A names and work your way to the Zs. Wouldn’t that be fun?” (4). Any sane person would run for the hills once you add in some disparaging remarks from Jacobs’ brother-in-law Eric, not to mention the 32 encyclopedias that are neatly stacked in Jacobs’ home office, casting shadows of doom and gloom across the floor.
Jacobs won’t let anything stop him now, even the issues he and his wife face after discovering that they will not be able to have a child through normal methods, having instead to undergo in vitro fertilization. Here is where The Know-It-All really shines. Rather than track only Jacobs’ consumption of the encyclopedia, these 389 pages follow Jacobs as he attempts to play nice with the aforementioned Eric, play on Jeopardy!, retain all the information in Britannica, and still remain in a state of sanity. We are fortunate enough to watch the tale unfold as seemingly useless facts about oysters, abalones, and other miscellaneous items simultaneously offend, intrigue, and disgust members of Jacobs’ family, his co-workers, and his neighbors. “They’ve (abalones) got a row of holes in their shells, and five of them serve as outlets for waste,” (11) Jacobs informs a co-worker, receiving only a cold, annoying look in return.
The Know-It-All is one of those rare books that hold nothing back. We witness Jacobs’ full train of thought. Take his viewpoint on the entry gospel. “Or better yet, there’s the Wicked Bible….this was an infamous edition of the Bible from 1631. The problem? It omitted the word “not” in Exodus 20:14, resulting in the commandment “Thou shalt commit adultery.” See that? One small editing error and you get a whole country fornicating with their neighbors’ wives. The average British peasant no doubt read the Wicked Bible and thought to himself: Okay, I’m not going to kill anyone…Adultery. Now that’s a commandment I can get behind. I wonder if God would rather I beget with Farmer John’s wife or Parson Jebediah’s wife…maybe they were playing an immature little practical joke with God’s words. Maybe they thought of changing “Thou shalt not kill” to “Thou shalt not spill” – which would have caused a lot of very carefully poured glasses of tea and a few hundred more homicides – but settled on the adultery commandment instead,” (119). Jacobs also often chooses to provide us with an interesting morsel of information rather than reflect on the entire article. Poe, Edgar Allan is one entry that points this out. “He married his cousin when she was thirteen. Sort of the Jerry Lee Lewis of his day but with more interest in Gothic imagery,” (266).
Only the very brave will attempt to read the entire encyclopedia. Some might succeed, some might not. But for those who will never brave the 32 volumes of leather covers and gold-stained pages, there is comfort and hope. The Know-It-All is a condensed version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, complete with Jacobs’ sarcasm, musings on the world, and journey as he reads his way through articles covering everything from an a-ak to the town of Zywiec. As a memoir, The Know-It-All follows Jacobs’ convoluted path from editor of a social magazine to one of the few and the proud who endured the fire that is the Encyclopedia Britannica. But could The Know-It-All function as a real encyclopedia? Let’s just say that if you’re looking for the cold hard facts on Project Ozma, you’ll want to consult a real encyclopedia after perusing Jacobs’ thoughts on intelligent life both here on Earth and in the universe surrounding us.
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Jun 02, 2012 Lee Hasard rated it 3 of 5 stars

‘The Know-It-All’ goes the distance on facts and fun

In his 1922 book “Public Opinion,” Walter Lippman pondered how modern man might comprehend complex current events. The American intellectual penned this passage:

« The world that we have to deal with politically is out of reach, out of sight, out of mind. It has to be explored, reported, and imagined. Man is no Aristotelian god contemplating all existence at one glance. He is the creature of an evolution who can just about span a sufficient port...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Kristine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thank you, thank you A.J. Jacobs for waking up my mid-winter funny bone. This self-deprecating and national best-selling 2004 memoir about the author's quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica A-Z extracted smiles and chuckles and groans and snickers and even an occasional very unladylike guffaw! Will it make YOU laugh? That I can't say.

However, if your humor stays in hibernation, perhaps your curiosity will be aroused. I mean, don't you wonder who this guy is, what makes him tick, and why in...more Thank you, thank you A.J. Jacobs for waking up my mid-winter funny bone. This self-deprecating and national best-selling 2004 memoir about the author's quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica A-Z extracted smiles and chuckles and groans and snickers and even an occasional very unladylike guffaw! Will it make YOU laugh? That I can't say.

However, if your humor stays in hibernation, perhaps your curiosity will be aroused. I mean, don't you wonder who this guy is, what makes him tick, and why in heaven's name he would submit himself to this particular challenge?

Or, maybe, your curiosity bone wonders instead, how such an odd reading diet would impact an otherwise seemingly sane thirty-something happily married, frustratingly childless, family-centered New York magazine editor?

Does this Ivy-educated former philosophy major seriously think that trying to become smarter, especially by increasing his store of "facts" a la Britannica is a worthy path for self-improvement? What wisdom will he extract and pass along to the rest of us from the world's "condensed" (ha ha) history?

If neither humor nor curiosity entices you, perhaps practicality will: you don't have enough time yourself to devote to the entire Britannica, but you wish you did. Hey, the book does copy the A to Z format, but with far fewer word entries. And, the author does pepper you with facts, mercifully omitting all but a tiny fraction of what his eyes have endured -- and then he adds context and commentary, so it's, at least, a bit less dry.

I did read this book in about three days, but I must warn that I felt nearly drowned in places with --surprise, surprise-- encyclopedic-style trivia that almost certainly went in one eye and out the other.

But, heck, my wish for a slightly shorter book hardly seems fair given the author's year-long self-disciplined concentration on those thousands upon thousands of papery-thin pages filled with what must have seemed endless tiny font Britannica entries.

He had the self-discipline to finish what he started reading, so I decided, I could, too. I'm glad I did -- not five star glad, but happy face "glad-enough" and "I'd-read-other-books-by-this-writer" star glad.

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Jan 16, 2012 Kira rated it 2 of 5 stars

One thing The Know-It-All does quite well is convey the breadth of the world’s available knowledge, something I actually think Wikipedia minimizes by virtue of being so accessible. After all, there’s a difference between looking something up when you need to know it, and setting out to learn everything there is to know.

Indeed, whether or not I loved the final product, I still have tremendous respect for Jacobs’ mission, which I would have probably given up on by about the letter B. The Know-It-A...more

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May 20, 2011 Bojan Tunguz rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I was a kid I owned an encyclopedia that my grandpa had given us. My family owned many other reference works as well, and a little nerd that I was I had spent many hours reading and browsing those thick books that contained more knowledge than I could ever hope to absorb. There was something really appealing about the idea that all of the knowledge can be systematized and presented in a coherent, all-encompassing whole. And yet, the sheer size of those thick volumes made me wonder if I will...more

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May 06, 2011 Pro Kumar is currently reading it

Pro Kumar
The Know-it-All
By A.J. Jacobs
The Know-it-All, by A.J. Jacobs, is a book about Jacob’s quest to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and become the smartest man in the world. The is set up in a way that an encyclopedia is set up. It starts with the letter A and all the topics that A.J. connects to are under that letter, for example “ABO blood group” or “Absalom”. Then it continues through the alphabet as Jacobs progresses in his reading.
One connection to American culture is the fac...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Ingrid rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another enjoyable read from Mr. Jacobs! I first read The Year of Living Biblically, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Actually, it was the book after Eat, Pray, Love that I found helpful in the healing process after my breakup because I started to really try to focus on finding my identity in Christ, and growing as an individual. I promised myself, (and Mr. Jacobs, who incidentally happens to politely reply to fanmail), that I'd read this one too. I got a copy of it and would sneak a read whenever poss...more

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Oct 21, 2010 Chris Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you are one of those irritating people who feel it necessary to chime in or correct a tour guide's talk in an art gallery or museum, or if you add notes in book margins when you feel the author has got his facts wrong, or if you can't visit an historic building without taking a guidebook with you to read up on it first (I count myself as one of these) then this book is for you. The author fulfils an ambition - to read the EB from A to Z - and shares with the reader the quirky things he learns...more

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About A.J. Jacobs

A.J. Jacobs is a New York Times bestselling author, Esquire editor and human guinea pig.

Among Jacobs’ life experiments:
--The Know-It-All. The bestselling memoir of the year he spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a quest to become the smartest person in the world.
--The Year of Living Biblically. The bestseller about his life as the ultimate biblical man. He followed every rule of th...more

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Books by A.J. Jacobs

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

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“Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t really explain why.” — 16 people liked it

“I can’t help but notice that you keep writing love poetry to my wife. Well, you see, I married her, which makes her my wife. You know what you might want to try? Writing some poems about the sunset. The sunset isn’t fucking married.” — 11 people liked it

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