A review by rebeccalm
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs

Did not finish book.

I picked up this book, for the first time, over a decade ago at a friend's house and had been thoroughly absorbed by it. I only got to read about half the book before I had to leave it behind, and didn't get back to it right away. Fast forward to now, when I found it at the library and felt a nostalgic pull to pick it back up and finish it...only to re-read the thing and stop halfway again. Boy do the years since it's publishing really date this book.

I love the idea of this man reading the entirety of the encyclopedia, but his conveyance of that knowledge and his anecdotes and experiences kind of fell flat for me. I know he's a pop-culture journalist, but this book was full to the brim with references that have not aged well or are now completely obscure. I was no longer enjoying it by the time I got to the L's and decided to stop it there.