It recounts his experience of reading the entire Encyclopædia Britannica; all 32 volumes of the 2002 edition, extending to over 33,000 pages with some 44 million words. He set out on this endeavour to become the "smartest person in the world". The book is organized alphabetically in encyclopedia format and recounts both interesting facts from the encyclopedia and the author's experiences.
The satirist P.J. O'Rourke said of it: "The Know-It-All is a terrific book. It's a lot shorter than the encyclopedia, and funnier, and you'll remember more of it. Plus, if it falls off the shelf onto your head, you'll live."
By contrast, Joe Queenan in The New York Times Book Review contended that much of which Jacobs reported as remarkable discoveries, e.g. the tale of Heloise and Abelard and the assassination of Marat by a woman, were already common knowledge among educated people.[3] Jacobs responded that "the ridiculously hyperbolic subtitle might have been a tip-off" of the book's ironic tone. [4]
Similar feats
A.J. Jacobs was not the first to read the entire Britannica. The earliest recorded example was Fath Ali, who upon becoming the Shah of Persia in 1797, was given a gift of the 3rd edition of the Britannica. After reading all of its 18 volumes, the Shah extended his royal title to include "Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopædia Britannica".[5] Roughly a century later, Amos Urban Shirk, an American businessman, read the entire 23-volume 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica over a period of four years. He then went on to read the entire 14th edition, spending on average three hours per night.[6]
^Queenan, Joe (3 October 2004). "'The Know-It-All': A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing". The New York Times.
^Jacobs, A. J. (13 February 2005). "I Am Not a Jackass". The New York Times.
^Banquet at Guildhall in the City of London, Tuesday 15 October 1968: Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Encyclopædia Britannica and the 25th Anniversary of the Honorable William Benton as its Chairman and Publisher. United Kingdom: Encyclopædia Britannica International, Ltd. 1968.
know, humble, quest, become, smartest, person, world, book, esquire, editor, jacobs, published, 2004, humble, quest, become, smartest, person, worldcover, know, authora, jacobscountryunited, stateslanguageenglishsubjectencyclopædia, britannicapublishersimon, s. The Know It All One Man s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World is a book by Esquire editor A J Jacobs published in 2004 1 The Know It All One Man s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the WorldCover to The Know it All AuthorA J JacobsCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSubjectEncyclopaedia BritannicaPublisherSimon amp SchusterPublication date2004Pages386 ppISBN0 7432 5060 5OCLC55067170Dewey Decimal031 22LC ClassAE5 E44 J33 2004It recounts his experience of reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica all 32 volumes of the 2002 edition extending to over 33 000 pages with some 44 million words He set out on this endeavour to become the smartest person in the world The book is organized alphabetically in encyclopedia format and recounts both interesting facts from the encyclopedia and the author s experiences It was a New York Times Best Seller 2 Contents 1 Reviews 2 Similar feats 3 Bibliography 4 ReferencesReviews EditThe satirist P J O Rourke said of it The Know It All is a terrific book It s a lot shorter than the encyclopedia and funnier and you ll remember more of it Plus if it falls off the shelf onto your head you ll live By contrast Joe Queenan in The New York Times Book Review contended that much of which Jacobs reported as remarkable discoveries e g the tale of Heloise and Abelard and the assassination of Marat by a woman were already common knowledge among educated people 3 Jacobs responded that the ridiculously hyperbolic subtitle might have been a tip off of the book s ironic tone 4 Similar feats EditA J Jacobs was not the first to read the entire Britannica The earliest recorded example was Fath Ali who upon becoming the Shah of Persia in 1797 was given a gift of the 3rd edition of the Britannica After reading all of its 18 volumes the Shah extended his royal title to include Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopaedia Britannica 5 Roughly a century later Amos Urban Shirk an American businessman read the entire 23 volume 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica over a period of four years He then went on to read the entire 14th edition spending on average three hours per night 6 Elon Musk read the Encyclopaedia Britannica twice 7 Bill Gates read the entire World Book Encyclopedia in his youth 8 Bibliography EditA J Jacobs 2004 The Know It All One Man s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World ISBN 0 7432 5060 5 Joe Queenan s review of the book A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing and A J Jacobs response I Am Not a Jackass both in The New York Times References Edit Jacobs A J 10 October 2005 Amazon com The Know It All ISBN 0743250621 Dust jacket of The Year of Living Biblically a later book also by A J Jacobs Queenan Joe 3 October 2004 The Know It All A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing The New York Times Jacobs A J 13 February 2005 I Am Not a Jackass The New York Times Banquet at Guildhall in the City of London Tuesday 15 October 1968 Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of theEncyclopaedia Britannicaand the 25th Anniversary of the Honorable William Benton as its Chairman and Publisher United Kingdom Encyclopaedia Britannica International Ltd 1968 Reader The New Yorker March 3 1934 p 17 Vance Ashlee Elon Musk How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future Virgin Books 2015 ISBN 9780753555620 Afterthoughts by Ashlee Vance Guth Robert A April 25 2009 Raising Bill Gates The Wall Street Journal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Know It All amp oldid 1108846194, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,