'The Know-It-All' chronicles Esquire editor (and NPR contributor) A.J. Jacobs' quest to read every word of all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. That's 44 million words, for those of you keeping score at home.
Critic Reviews
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Outstanding
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Kirkus Reviews
It is all enormous fun. [1 Aug 2004, p.727]
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Favorable
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Library Journal Terren Ilana Wein
If you persevere, you can look for some interesting thoughts about knowledge vs. wisdom and book learning vs. emotional growth. [1 Oct 2004, p.80]
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly
Jacobs's ability to juxtapose his quirky, sardonic wit with oddball trivia make this one of the season's most unusual books. [12 Jul 2004, p.52]
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Favorable
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The New York Times Janet Maslin
In its own joking way, this book really does seek a working definition of what it means to be smart.
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Favorable
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Booklist Mark Knoblauch
Plenty of good fun pours out of this prose. [1 Sep 2004, p.22]
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Favorable
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Entertainment Weekly Laura Miller
An entertaining frolic of a book.
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Favorable
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Washington Post Christopher Byrd
Plucked with care, the book's facts will provide enough anecdotes to perk up conversations and weather the season's social events.
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Favorable
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The Guardian Ian Sansom
For all its upbeat, feel-good filmic potential there's clearly something deeply inauthentic about Jacobs's quest: it doesn't seem like an act of the whole person; it's a gimmick.
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Mixed
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Village Voice Darren Reidy
Some tired wit and a predictable "everything is connected" conclusion don't seriously lame his de facto project, this book.
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Mixed
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Christian Science Monitor Gary Alan Fine
Alternately eccentric, charming, annoying, amusing, frustrating, and misguided - sometimes all within the same paragraph.
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Terrible
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The New York Times Book Review Joe Queenan
Corny, juvenile, smug, tired.
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