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Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree
by A. J. Jacobs
A hilarious, heartfelt quest to understand what constitutes family - where it begins and how far it goes - and attempts to untangle the true meaning of the "Family of Humankind."
A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: "You don't know me, but I'm your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database."
That's enough family members to fill Madison Square Garden four times over. Who are these people, A.J. wondered, and how do I find them? So began Jacobs's three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history.
Jacobs's journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, found himself singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends, but not our family.
"Whether he's posing as a celebrity, outsourcing his chores, or adhering strictly to the Bible, we love reading about the wacky lifestyle experiments of author A.J. Jacobs" (Entertainment Weekly). Now Jacobs upends, in ways both meaningful and hilarious, our understanding of genetics and genealogy, tradition and tribalism, identity and connection. It's All Relative is a fascinating look at the bonds that connect us all.
"Starred Review. Whimsical but also full of solid journalism and eye-opening revelations about the history of humanity, the book is a real treat." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Whether the author is being ruminative or rollicking, he is consistently thought-provoking in his 'adventure in helping to build the World Family Tree,' and his natural gift for humor lightens the mood of even the most serious discussion. A delightful, easy-to-read, informative book." - Kirkus
"Fans of Jacobs's previous work, as well as anyone interested in a nonacademic look into the world of genealogy and family trees, will find this account engrossing, funny, and optimistic." - Library Journal
"Esquire contributing editor Jacobs (The Year of Living Biblically) muses on the nature of family and the interconnectedness of humanity in this entertaining introduction to the world of genealogy...The result is a somewhat amusing and educational account of the science and culture of families." - Publishers Weekly
"The astonishing discoveries he makes not only reveal the compelling possibilities of genealogical and genetic research; they remind us of the common bonds that unite us as a single global family. As Jacobs's (however distant) cousin, I admit I may be biased in singing his praises, but as It's All Relative proves, who isn't?" - Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
"It's All Relative is the funniest, most thoughtful, most original and entertaining book about family that you will ever read and wish you'd written." - Mary Roach
"Jacobs again opens up to us his insightful (and hysterically bizarre) thought processes as he plots the end of hate and conflict through one massive first-of- its-kind event." - Scott Fisher, host of Extreme Genes
This information about It's All Relative was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: William Pelkey
A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, and a lecturer. He has written a few New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. He is also editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine. He is currently helping to build a family tree of the entire world and holding the biggest family reunion ever in 2015.
His bestsellers include The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection. He also published a collection of essays called My Life as an Experiment: One Man's Humble Quest to Improve ...
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