Will's review
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
by A.J. Jacobs
Will's review
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs
Will's review
rating:
This book's greatest strength is that of the Britannica itself: its assemblage of facts. And the facts the author selects are often remarkable -- or at least remarkably absurd. (Caravaggio killed a man over a tennis match; the kilogram is defined by the weight of an actual hunk of metal that sits in a building outside of Paris; Satchel Paige once played for a beard-wearing baseball-playing apocalyptic cult called the House of David.)
What's more, Jacobs' confessional, self-effacing tone sounds charmingly genuine, and, at times, genuinely charming. But then there's the autobiographical material that he attempts to interweave with the Britannica. With the exception of a couple poignant scenes, these personal sections come off as staged (the author goes to a Mensa meeting; competes in a crossword tournament; plays Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) or vapid (the author and his wife host an Oscar party; go to a movie; have passionless sex) or both (the author interviews Alex Trebek).
...more
What's more, Jacobs' confessional, self-effacing tone sounds charmingly genuine, and, at times, genuinely charming. But then there's the autobiographical material that he attempts to interweave with the Britannica. With the exception of a couple poignant scenes, these personal sections come off as staged (the author goes to a Mensa meeting; competes in a crossword tournament; plays Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) or vapid (the author and his wife host an Oscar party; go to a movie; have passionless sex) or both (the author interviews Alex Trebek).
...more
