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

Awards:   Short-listed for Book Sense Book of the Year Award (Adult Nonfiction) 2005
Author:   A. J Jacobs
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster
ISBN:  

9780743250603


Pages:   386
Publication Date:   21 September 2004
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

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


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Awards

  • Short-listed for Book Sense Book of the Year Award (Adult Nonfiction) 2005

Overview

"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 him it's a waste of time, his friends believe he is losing his mind, and his father, a brilliant attorney who had once attempted the same feat and quit somewhere around Borneo, is encouraging but, shall we say, unconvinced. With self-deprecating wit and a disarming frankness, ""The Know-It-All"" recounts the unexpected and comically disruptive effects Operation Encyclopedia has on every part of Jacobs's life -- from his newly minted marriage to his complicated relationship with his father and the rest of his charmingly eccentric New York family to his day job as an editor at Esquire. Jacobs's project tests the outer limits of his stamina and forces him to explore the real meaning of intelligence as he endeavors to join Mensa, win a spot on Jeopardy!, and absorb 33,000 pages of learning. On his journey he stumbles upon some of the strangest, funniest, and most profound facts about every topic under the sun, all while battling fatigue, ridicule, and the paralyzing fear that attends his first real-life responsibility -- the impending birth of his first child. ""The Know-It-All"" is an ingenious, mightily entertaining memoir of one man's intellect, neuroses, and obsessions and a soul-searching, ultimately touching struggle between the all-consuming quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom."

Full Product Details

Author:   A. J Jacobs
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster
Imprint:   Simon & Schuster
Dimensions:   Width: 16.80cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 25.00cm
Weight:   0.671kg
ISBN:  

9780743250603


ISBN 10:   0743250605
Pages:   386
Publication Date:   21 September 2004
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

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Reviews

P.J. O'Rourke author of Peace Kills The Know-It-All is a terrific book. It's a lot shorter than the encyclopedia, and funnier, and you'll remember more of it. Plus, if it falls off the shelf onto your head, you'll live.


Mary Roachauthor of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers I fell in love with this book on page one and I have laughed out loud on every page since. With his hilarious Britannica -fed insights on life, A.J. Jacobs uncovers the profound by way of the trivial. The Know-It-All is endlessly entertaining. Genius, pure.


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