One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Ratings20
Average rating3.7
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 Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z.
33,000 PAGES
44 MILLION WORDS
10 BILLION YEARS OF HISTORY
1 OBSESSED MAN
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 Encyclopedia 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 unconvinced.
Reviews with the most likes.
I hated this book to start. The format made me feel frustrated at its disjointedness. By the end, though, I had come to love the wry tone of the narrator and the ability to learn some random facts while enjoying a memoir.
Loved, this book! I'm a learner myself, so reading of someone else's adventure to learn as much as possible is definitely good entertainment in my book. :) Some parts were so humorous they made me laugh out loud, regardless of where I was, or if it was appropriate to be laughing out loud or not.