“The Know-It-All” by A. J. Jacobs. I love this book. So much that the public library is fining me several dollars for bringing it back several weeks late. Incidentally, I’m nowhere near reading it all, but I love the premise. This non-fiction book lets us into the twisted mind of a man who decides to read the Encyclopedia Britannica, A to Z, cover to cover. Yikers!
I can totally relate to the author.
-He practices what I call buffet-style religion, sampling different religious and spiritual traditions and taking only the parts that resonate with him.
-He likes odd juxtapositions and abrupt changes in subject. “I love seeing the prophet Abraham rub elbows with Karl Abraham, a German shrink who theorized about the anal explusive and phallic stages.”
-He learns fascinating stories and random facts and is dying to slip them into ordinary conversation or just tell people about them, but others really couldn’t care less (that abalones have 5 assholes, that opossums have 13 nipples, or that dwarves have prominent buttocks). That’s me on any given day.
-He’s a big nerd.
Yup. That’s me! Although I would never go for the Britannica. Nope, the Americana is for me! Isn’t it at a 4th-grade reading level? At the end of my second year of college I spent a good part of an afternoon reading the entire entry on France, including history, political system, etc. for a big oral exam on French civilization. So many facts, so little time!
The title of this entry is a reference to how Mr. Jacobs describes his attention span. He’s a hilarious writer. Click here for info on the book.
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