Wow, I loved this book. Seriously. As in I have a total author-crush on Mr. Jacobs, and have considered not only sending fan mail but also hanging out in his neighborhood here in NYC, in case he happens to see me reading his book. We're talking that level of love, though in a completely platonic sense (see entry on Plato).
The premise of the book is straightforward: Mr. Jacobs proposes to read the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica. His goal: to regain some of the intelligence that he fears he has lost in his post-collegiate days. Since he works as a journalist/editor at Esquire, his specific concern is that pop cultural knowledge has taken over and forced all prior knowledge out. So he buys a leatherette-bound set and goes to work.
The book follows him throughout his journey, rejoicing as he succeeds, sympathizing as he stumbles. As we learn some of the facts that most stand out to our noble hero (such as the one detailing Rene Descartes' fetish for cross-eyed women), we also learn about his life. He and his wife are attempting to conceive, which adds an interesting counterpoint to the reading. He also decides to try out for Jeopardy, and feels compelled to share his newfound knowledge with friend and foe alike, leading to many amusing incidents.
What I loved about this book are the tone, which is informative but light-hearted and funny, and the snippets of info. As someone who loves learned odd bits of trivia, I found his selections so enticing that, if I had the money, I would go buy the EB. Since I live in NYC, I read on the subway a lot and tend to keep my emotions veiled, but this book had me laughing out loud on a regular basis. Which really confused people when they saw that I was reading a book about reading the encyclopedia, actually. But hey- it's just that funny.
In short- read this book. For once, I'm not adding any qualifiers, since I'm assuming that everyone reading this review has an interest in learning and knowledge. And go buy a copy, because I can already tell that I will need to do so, so that I can refer back to it in conversation. |
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