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

The Know-It-All is a wonderful book that charts the progress through the author's life one year of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica set. Aside from imparting some of the knowledge he is picking up from the books, he lets us into his life as well (a lot happens as he works his way through the alphabet.) His sense of humor is self-effacing and infectious. I haven't laughed so much in a while (I need to get out more, apparently.)

A couple of years ago, my wife talked me into giving away my set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. I really hadn't touched them since high school, but did have an emotional attachment to them. My parents bought them for me when I was a kid, to help me out in school. That was when EB had door to door show more salesmen peddling them. I guess they represented my parents' support for me, their willingness to do whatever it took to help me out, because the set wasn't cheap. And we weren't rich.

I actually had the idea of reading the whole set at one time. I think I must've gotten the idea from the movie, Dr. No, when the character of Honey Rider, played by Ursula Andress, told Bond that she had started reading the encyclopedia from A-Z when she was 8. But of course, I never did. There aren't too many goals in my life that I have actually followed through on, so no surprise here. But reading this book makes me wish I had. show less

This book turned out to be much more interesting than I expected. And much more fun.

A.J. Jacobs decided to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. It took him over a year. This book is something like his diary. But in fact it is something more. We have curiosities here that A.J. found in the Encyclopedia. We have description of current events in the life of A.J. and his wife - like trying for a baby and social events. Events from the childhood of A.J. and his relationship with other family members. Finally, we have here A.J.'s impressions of meetings with remarkably intelligent people and those a little less brilliant who make up a certain complicated picture and an attempt to answer the question of what intelligence and wisdom are.

In show more all this, AJ is brutally honest with himself and his family. He admits his rivalry with his father and brother-in-law. He admits to his own desire to impress others. But he describes other people with no less brutality. The only people I think he takes pity of are his mother and his wife. Huh, there's something Freudian about it, isn't it? AJ is much harsher towards other men.

The book has a very interesting composition. Instead of chapters there are consecutive letters of the alphabet. And each entry begins with a word found in the encyclopedia and most often with some information about it. Entries are usually short. Which makes the book easy and quick to read. It can also be put down at almost any time without much of a fuss. The descriptions of the events of A.J.'s life are usually connected to the encyclopedia entry. This makes the book really remarkable.

What I didn't expect the most is humor, that I would laugh so much reading this book. The book is written in a light, playful language and full of funny comments and comparisons.

I know that A.J. has written a few more books in a similar style. After reading this, I want to read his other books. show less

Feeling that he's let his intellect waste away while working as a writer for pop culture magazines, Jacobs embarks on the task of reading the thirty-two volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica. His hope is to gain knowledge, maybe even raise his I.Q. The journey through the alphabet leads him to join a Mensa convention, take both a speed reading and memory course, attend a gathering of crossword puzzle enthusiasts and take part in a debate at Columbia University. Those sound like they'd be dull, but Jacobs squeezes the most awkwardness possible from them.

It's a fun and sometimes funny look at self-education. Jacobs is Ivy League educated and clearly comes from both money and a long line of scholars, so it's not as if this is a matter of show more trying to build on a slender foundation. This is more about setting and achieving the goal while finding out some well-hidden facts, but it sometimes had a rather heavy handed sub-plot of the author and his wife trying to conceive. He talks about it a lot between encyclopedia topics. Overall, a really fun book, especially if you like books about books. show less

This is the best book I've read in quite a long time... I don't give out a lot of 5s...
On the surface this book may seem like a real gimmicky, schticky one... read the encyclopedia, give some definitions, etc... but there is a lot more going one here than that.
First of all, this guy can write. Great pacing, knows where to put the jokes, knows when to get serious, etc. Secondly, he is funny. Really funny. Thirdly, this book is only superficially about reading the encyclopedia. That's what draws you in, but it's the stories he relates about his wife, his father, his brother-in-law, and the rest of the crew that absolutely move this book.
Jacobs wins the award for painting the coolest, most wonderful, most loving portrait of a family show more without being sappy and syrupy that a person could write. I don't know, maybe I'm just as eccentric as he is, but his father sounds like one of the coolest humans ever to walk the earth, and his wife is certainly in the running for the most patient and understanding.
You should read this book yesterday. show less

Having tried to read a 1957 set of Funk & Wagnall's at the age of 8 and a 1970 set of World Book Encyclopedias at the age of 10, I can understand the mindset of someone attempting to tackle the all encompassing Britannica. In my own case I don't seem to have made it past the Ds and consequently retain a lot of disjointed information about dogs and the goddess Diana, so I have to respect Mr. Jacob's effort to slog through from A-Z in the course of a year. He is an editor for Esquire magazine and brings a pop culture sensibility to his observations. The serendipity of the intersection of his real life as it meshes with his reading takes interesting and thought provoking turns as he humorously reflects on human nature, learning and he and show more his wife's pursuit of parenthood. Though not for everyone, The Know-it-All is a fun and enlightening read. show less

Not only did I laugh out loud (snorted a couple times too), but I learned some interesting trivia, who knew abalones had five poopers? Jacobs' journey reading the entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica, or EB, and how he tries to fit what he has learned in to every day life is funny and entertaining. Haven't we all had that awkward moment when we just knew people would be wowed with our bit of knowledge, only to get the head tilt and stare of a dog look? Can't wait to read The Year Living Biblically!

A.J. Jacobs sets out to "become the smartest person in the world" by reading the Encylopedia Britannica in it's entirety from A-to-Z. If you think this is a book about a man reading an encyclopedia and listing the facts he learns, well that's exactly what it is. But to be fair many of the facts are interesting and/or funny. In between encyclopedic entries, Jacobs narrates his personal life. This includes his relationship with his wife as they try to conceive a baby. Then there's his absolutely hilarious father who is also greatly interested in learning. And Jacobs has a nemesis in his brother-in-law who is an even bigger - and more confident - know-it-all. Along the way Jacobs attends adult education courses on speed reading and show more memorization, visits the Britannica publishing offices in Chicago, and appears on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? I expect that Jacobs might be a tad bit annoying if you met him in person, but in his writing he is funny and charming and this is an enjoyable book for nerds like me. show less