The Know-It-All

One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

By: A. J. Jacobs

Narrated by: Geoffrey Cantor

Early in his career, A.J. Jacobs put his Ivy League education to work at Entertainment Weekly. He emerged five years later knowing which stars have fake boobs, which stars have toupees, which have both, and not much else. This realization led Jacobs on a life-changing quest: to read the entire contents of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, all 33,000 pages, all 44 million words.

The mission began in October 2002, with the word "a-ak". The word launches hilarious misadventures through 32 volumes, as Jacobs accumulates useful and less-so knowledge, and along the way finds a deep connection with his father, examines the nature of knowledge vs. intelligence, and learns how to be rather annoying at cocktail parties.

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 obsessive quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom.

©2004 A.J. Jacobs (P)2004 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"One of the book's strongest parts is its laugh-out-loud humor." (Publishers Weekly)
"Sidesplitting." (Time Out New York)

For General knowledge junkies

If trivial information and "I did not know that", make you smile your going to love this book. I have always looked at the encyclopaedia with awe and fear but this book makes it fun to delve into those obscure facts that enlighten and surprise.

What were they thinking?

I'm beginning to wonder about the usefulness of some of these reviews, particularly the negative ones. They almost prevented me from listening to Blink by Malcom Gladwell which I LOVED and might have prevailed against me for this one had I paid any attention. They are in such stark contrast to my experience.

I find this book a very enjoyable read and as people have said, it's as much about the author as the book he is reading. I have truly enjoyed the narrator Geoffrey Cantor portrayal of the book. He seems more like an actor reading a script than a narrator reading a book.

The book is long however, but I think I'll be able to stop it for awhile and come back to it fairly easily. I strongly recommend it.

It's a Journey, not a list of Facts

Jacobs takes us along on his journey through the alphabet, but it's not just a highlight real of the best facts in the Britannica. It's also about his experience. How the towering stack of completed books begins to grow, how he is able to apply his new knowledge, and the weird overlaps the articles have in his everyday life. Jacobs is funny, lovably neurotic, and much harder to put down than an actual encyclopedia..

Brilliant & Funny, what a great book!!

What did you love best about The Know-It-All?

The wonderful mix of learning & humor, the author is fantastic, and the man reading the book is the Best! He is one with the words, my favorite book of the decade.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Know-It-All?

When I finished, I had to start lisening to it again, so much I wanted to remember.

Which character – as performed by Geoffrey Cantor – was your favorite?

He did them all OUTSTANDING.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

MANY EXTREME LAUGH OUT LOUD TIMES, AND MANY WOW MOMENTS.

Detailed yet entertaining

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a highly amusing read, weaving arcane factoids with the author's quest and things going on with his wife and his job at Esquire. So much fun.