It's All Relative

Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree

By: A. J. Jacobs

Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically A. J. Jacobs undergoes a hilarious, heartfelt quest to understand what constitutes family - where it begins and how far it goes - and attempts to untangle the true meaning of the "family of humankind".

A. J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: "You don't know me, but I'm your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database."

That's enough family members to fill Madison Square Garden four times over. Who are these people, A. J. wondered, and how do I find them? So began Jacobs' three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history.

Jacobs' journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, found himself singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends but not our family.

Now Jacobs upends, in ways both meaningful and hilarious, our understanding of genetics and genealogy, tradition and tribalism, identity and connection. It's All Relative is a fascinating look at the bonds that connect us all.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2017 A. J. Jacobs (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Doomed from the start

I can only fall back on the old chestnut: I wanted to like the book. But at its core is a flaw that the author himself recognizes and expresses numerous times in the book. Namely, that the enterprise is simultaneously naive, pointless and paradoxical. Naive in that racism can't be eradicated by biology. Deep down, we can see it's primarily cultural, despite the genetic rhetoric. Pointless in that, predictably, factions arise with their own agendas, religious, political, commercial, etc. rendering any altruistic motivation moot. And paradoxical since a family of all humanity renders the idea of family meaningless. Or worse, hypocritical, as the author can attest, as new structures of other-ness appear, replacing the word "family" in a neat semantic sleight of hand.

Humorous, honest and upbeat

Humorous tale of a one year journey to break the Guinness World Record for a family reunion. I enjoyed the continual return to a concept that if we are all ultimately related, then why should we be so devicive? A true answer.
The book did get a bit long, as so often is the case. At times I felt manipulated that the grand scheme of this project was really to write a book and sell. Of course i then bought it. But I am not sure that fact was ever hidden. Humor usually pulled me out of feeling too taken on a ride as the author's latest con to sell a book. Clearly he took each step and the journey was honest and filled with tales.
I am almost always a fan of the author reading his own book. I love the proper punch and pause of an author's own narration. This was not one of those times. Ever have a face not match a voice? Or a picture not match a profile? This was a narrator not matching the script. As odd as that must sound. It threw me chapter after chapter.

Not the best of A.J.

Although have some funny parts, the overall book is not as good another previous stories from the very entertaining A.J. Jacobs.
interesting passages about how humanity is link but unfortunately my expectations were higher than the reality of this book.

Hilarious, Honest, and Heartfelt

As if being able to listen to this book wasn’t great enough, having the author read it gave that extra feeling that I was on this journey with him and his family. Incredibly relatable for anyone that has a passion for genealogy and their own family history. I found myself laughing while thinking I have felt many of those thoughts throughout my research as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if this book became the gateway of many others acquiring a new found love for genealogy. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has any level of interest in genealogy but it is also far reaching in appeal past that.

Fun Genealogy Read!

Loved this book, which I downloaded after reading a review in my Sunday newspaper. A.J. is quirky and most entertaining. So thankful he and his brain are around to encourage us to think about the big picture (who are we? what are we evolving into?) while sharing his insights into the small details of life. His concept that we are all related, and that we'll get along once we let that sink in, was just what I needed to read after the election of the divisive, negative government in 2016. Thanks, AJ!

Fun book

I enjoyed seeing genealogy through his eyes. Listening to this book was a lot of fun.

ok book

AJ please get a professional narrator! I know it must be a pride thing but it would be for the better.

Loved it!

What a fun, interesting book! I love the author’s honestly and integrity! We ARE all cousins! Let’s treat each other as such.

Another AJ

I’m a huge fan of AJ Jacobs. I have enjoyed all of his books including this one. Though this might be my least favorite one.