The Know-It-All

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

Author: A.J. Jacobs

Pages: 386

Genre: Non-fiction, Humor

Grade: A

Synopsis: A.J. Jacobs read all 32 volumes of the 2002 Encyclopaedica Britannica. That’s 33,000 pages and 44 million words. And to think that I was complaining about War and Peace’s measly 1,000 pages and 595,000 words. This book is set up like an encyclopaedia with different entries in alphabetical order. He touches on the most interesting things that he learned while easily weaving his own personal story into the text. The book is funny, extremely interesting and engaging. He tries to fit in with the Mensa crowd and other intellectual societies – even making an appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

My Review:I first heard about this book when I saw the author interviewed on The Colbert Report. More recently, this book was recommended to me by a childhood friend Heather [Gibby] Ward. She remembers me as a nerd and was spot-on with this recommendation. I’m a fact guy and this book is chock-full of random facts (that I will unfortunately never remember). In fact, I started reading the encyclopaedia a few times when I was younger. It was something that I always wanted to read and I when my dad bought a used encyclopaedia set (1978 edition) from the DI in 1993 or 1994, I would read it off and on. Nowadays, there are simply too many other books on my plate to give up a year reading the encyclopaedia.

Disclaimer: Mr. Jacobs is fairly loose with his language in this book and some may find it offensive. I just found it funny...

From the book: “(p. 17 – atrophy) Let me tell you, though: being the smartest boy in the world wasn’t easy. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want this. On the contrary, it was a huge burden. First, there was the task of keeping my brain perfectly protected. My cerebral cortex was a national treasure, a masterpiece of the Sistine Chapel of brains. This was not something that could be treated frivolously. If I could have locked it in a safe, I would have. Instead, I became obsessed with brain damage.”

“(p. 24 – bell) Back to the books. The world’s largest bell was built in 1733 in Moscow, and weighed in at more than four hundred thousand pounds. It never rang—it was broken by fire before it could be struck. What a sad little story. All that work, all that planning, all those expectations—then nothing. Now it just sits there in Russia, a big metallic symbol of failure. I have a moment of silence for the silent bell.”

“(p. 56 – Deseret News) I always thought the name of Utah’s major newspaper was some sort of weird misspelling of the word “desert.” But no, Deseret is the “land of the honeybee,” according to the Book of Mormon. I guess I should have figured they would have caught a typo in the masthead after 154 years.”

“(p. 58 - Dionysus) A few weeks later, I’m in a fluorescent-lit classroom in Chelsea awaiting the start of the official Mensa test. I’m sitting next to a guy who’s doing a series of elaborate neck stretches, like we’re about to engage in a vigorous rugby match. He’s neatly laid out four types of gum on his Formica desk: Juicy Fruit, Wrigley Spearmint, Big Red, and Eclipse. I hate this guy. I hope to God he’s not a genius.”

“(p. 102 – frigate birds) Huh. I’m not sure how to respond to this. Is Alex Trebek black? He sure doesn’t look black. He looks pretty white to me. He looks like the quintessence, the very incarnation, of whiteness.”

“(p. 125 – gymnasium) The literal Greek translation is “school for naked exercise.” Which made toweling off the stationary bike even more important.”

“(p. 179 – Las Vegas) Mormons were the first settlers. Not sure Joseph Smith would approve of today’s topless showgirls and liquor. Though he would like the volcano at the Mirage. Everybody likes the volcano.”

“(p. 305 – 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.”