The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World By A.J. Jacobs
Reviewed by Elaine Williams
This is the humorous, yet informative story of a thirty-something man who
decided to read the entire Encyclopædia Britannica – all thirty-two
volumes of it. A.J. Jacobs is a writer for Esquire magazine. At the age of
about ten, he became convinced that he truly was the smartest boy on the
planet. He eventually came to the realization that this was not true. This
realization did not stop him as an adult from embarking on a quest that his
brilliant father had started, but never finished: reading the encyclopedia
through from A to Z. Along the way, we learn how such a task strained his
marriage and led him into some interesting social situations. We also learn
just how and why they say, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”
The Know-It-All has several “storylines” running through it. First,
Jacobs shares with us little tidbits of knowledge he picks up along the way.
Sometimes these stand alone (e.g., French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre has
crossed eyes) and sometimes Jacobs uses the factoid as a jumping-off point to
digress into a long-forgotten memory (the entry on Saint Elias Mountains
reminds him of being lost in the same) or a rumination on his father (who was
obsessed with Genghis Khan). The book is arranged alphabetically based on
encyclopedia entries.
Secondly, Jacobs uses the story of his quest for knowledge as a way to explore his feelings about his dad. Throughout the book, he deals with the problem of one-upmanship. There’s a lot to live up to here. Jacobs’ father has several advanced degrees, is the author of over twenty books on legal topics, and has a strange penchant for complex practical jokes. Jacobs really feels his own lack when he realizes that his day’s work might involve deciding which airbrushed photo of an air headed celebrity should run in Esquire. So reading the Britannica is his way of filling in the gaps in his own education, and of simultaneously accomplishing something his father could not.
Jacobs also shares the ups and downs of family life, including his vain efforts to start his own family and deal with his know-it-all relatives. Some of the funniest moments come when Jacobs goes on little “knowledge field-trips” in addition to reading the encyclopedia. He becomes cocky enough to attend a Mensa meeting (he doesn’t pass the entrance test, but gets in on his high school SAT scores), a speed-reading course, and a crossword-puzzlers tournament. He also arranges to meet Alex Trebek, and auditions for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Some of the things that happen to him on these field trips are just plain laugh-out-loud funny.
What’s really funny is how reading the encyclopedia starts to affect Jacobs’ brain. Facts start popping into his head at inopportune moments. He is overcome by the urge to brag and to insert himself into other people’s conversations. He arrogantly keeps a list of all the things HE knew that the Britannica DIDN’T. All of this adds up to a very entertaining read that you can dip into just like you would an encyclopedia (unless you have the need to prove something and want to read it from “a-ak” to “zywiec!”)