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

by A. J. Jacobs | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 0743250621 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingbooklady331wing of Cape Coral, Florida USA on 12/10/2007
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingbooklady331wing from Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, December 10, 2007
From Publishers Weekly
Imagine, the original Berserkers were "savage Norse soldiers" of the Middle Ages who went into battle stark naked! Or consider the Etruscan habit of writing in "boustrophedon style." Intrigued? Well, either hunker down with your own Encyclopædia Britannica, or buy Esquire editor Jacobs's memoir of the year he spent reading all 32 volumes of the 2002 edition—that's 33,000 pages with some 44 million words. Jacobs set out on this delightfully eccentric endeavor attempting to become the "smartest person in the world," although he agrees smart doesn't mean wise. Apart from the sheer pleasure of scaling a major intellectual mountain, Jacobs figured reading the encyclopedia from beginning to end would fill some gaps in his formal education and greatly increase his "quirkiness factor." Reading alphabetically through whole topics he never knew existed meant he'd accumulate huge quantities of trivia to insert into conversations with unsuspecting victims. As his wife shunned him and cocktail party guests edged away, Jacobs started testing his knowledge in a hilarious series of humiliating adventures: hobnobbing at Mensa meetings, shuffling off to chess houses, trying out for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, visiting his old prep school, even competing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Indeed, one of the book's strongest parts is its laugh-out-loud humor. Jacobs's ability to juxtapose his quirky, sardonic wit with oddball trivia make this one of the season's most unusual books.

Journal Entry 2 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, January 20, 2014
An enlightening and enjoyable read. I feel like I know A. J. His humor was spread throughout the book. I am going to send it to another BCer who has this book on her wishlist.

Journal Entry 3 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, January 20, 2014

Released 10 yrs ago (1/20/2014 UTC) at Cape Coral, Florida USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy! A surprise RABCK - a Wishlist book for Iwillrejoice

Journal Entry 4 by iwillrejoice at Fort Myers, Florida USA on Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Thank you for this wishlist book that arrived today! Looking forward to it!

Journal Entry 5 by iwillrejoice at Fort Myers, Florida USA on Wednesday, July 20, 2016
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was funny in spots, yes. But there was so little story line, that it was hard to get myself to actually pick up the book. I felt like I was reading the encyclopedia, too.

Not a compelling read, for me. Let's see if the next reader likes it better!

Reserved for a book ring.

Journal Entry 6 by iwillrejoice at book ring/ray, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, December 4, 2016

Released 7 yrs ago (12/4/2016 UTC) at book ring/ray, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Released into my ABC Authors Book Rings - US version - Letter J. Happy travels, little book!

Journal Entry 7 by wingperryfranwing at North Ogden, Utah USA on Saturday, December 17, 2016
Selecting from the J authors bookring. Looks interesting after a quick perusal. Not sure if I will read all of this but may just skim some of the entries of info gleaned from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Thanks!

Journal Entry 8 by wingperryfranwing at Franklin Community Library in Elk Grove, California USA on Thursday, June 22, 2017

Released 6 yrs ago (6/22/2017 UTC) at Franklin Community Library in Elk Grove, California USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

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