Know-It-All Book Review

Name	The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Author	A.J. Jacobs
Published	2004 (first hardcover release)
Length	386 Pages

Description: Know-It-All covers an Esquire magazine editor's journey through the entire 2002 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The entries range from interesting details to witty comments to stories of Jacobs's life to metamusings about his quest. While Jacobs may honestly have once thought himself to be the smartest kid in the world, the subtitle of the book is intended as a wry joke. Indeed, the author proves himself to more of a comedian than an intellect, showing off a fairly impressive memory for facts while failing to express a deeper understanding of much of anything.

Jacobs joins Mensa based on nearly two-decade-old SAT scores, embarasses himself at a trivia contest (although not because of his results), gets trounced in a chess game, and bottoms out in a crossword puzzle tournament. "Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" would greatly overstate the author's knowledge, which widens and flattens considerably as he traverses the alphabet. He also attempts to become a contestant on the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which his encyclopedia study both helps with its tons of facts and hinders with its lack of pop culture and current events.

Fortunately, Jacobs's one strong area of expertise is storytelling. Married and attempting to become a father for the first time as the book begins, his character evolves and grows, just like in a good novel, spurred both by the esoteric knowledge he is gaining and the life events that are transpiring. He's a likeable guy whom you'll find yourself rooting for except when he's showing off with minutia (his wife eventually decides to fine him a dollar for each irrelevant comment).

Conclusion: Know-It-All is an entertaining read, especially for trivia lovers who will find a slew of factoids sprinkled throughout the simultaneously alphabetical and chronological story. Experiencing his feat vicariously is enough to make you feel like you've done it and glad that you haven't.