Book 14 - The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs

The latest book in my personal quest to read 52 books in 2010 (see 2010 Quitsville Goals) is the story of another person's (semi-ridiculous) quest. A.J. Jacobs' The Know it All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World is the story of his quest to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica - no small feat if I do say so myself.

I'm 97% sure I originally heard about this book on NPR - let's be honest, where else would I have heard about it? - on FreshAir. Clearly, projects like Jacobs' appeal to me so this book seemed a perfect next step in my own personal project. Being totally honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to love it - A.J. Jacobs is a pretty silly guy and I wasn't sure I could get through the entire book without becoming annoyed with him (the Julie-Julia phenomenon of enjoying the book but not being sure about the writer). I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that A.J. grew on me; by the end of The Know It All we felt like old friends. I liked his honest documentation of the project itself - A.J. admitted to skimming certain entries, to being an obnoxious party guest, etc. - and it was encouraging to feel his devotion to the project wax and wane as he delved deeper into it (something I can relate to - by the by).

I also have to admit that I find myself identifying with Jacobs - not only has he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica but he's also written books about living biblically for a year (The Year of Living Biblically) and about living as a human guinea pig (The Guinea Pig Diaries). Jacobs is a man that likes a project (however silly it might be) and I have to say the same about myself - minus the man part. I love my projects (some might say to a fault) and I did find myself thinking 'what if I read the encyclopedia...' or something else very long and intense. I love measurable goals, what can I say.

Just for fun, some of my favorite facts or excerpts from The Know It All:

"Berserkers: Savage Norse soldiers from the middle ages who, it is said, went into battle naked. Hence "going berserk." So to truly go berserk, you should take off your pants. Noted." Page 25

"Gymnasium: The literal Greek translation is "school for naked exercise." Which made toweling off the stationary bike even more important." Page 125

"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." Page 304

And... some additional reading:

Check out A.J. Jacobs Website for information on all of his books and a link to his blog

Listen to the interview with A.J. Jacobs on Fresh Air

Follow A.J. Jacobs on Twitter

A review of The Know It All on Wendy's Words

Another review on Robert Van Bobby's Book Blog (with a comment from A.J. Jacobs himself)

See what Pages and Pints thought of the book in their review (also, a side note - a blog about beer and books? Intriguing...)