It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree
Written by A. J. Jacobs
Narrated by A. J. Jacobs
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
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. In It’s All Relative, he “muses on the nature of family and the interconnectedness of humanity in this entertaining introduction to the world of genealogy” (Publishers Weekly).
Jacobs’s journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, sung 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. “Whimsical but also full of solid journalism and eye-opening revelations about the history of humanity, It’s All Relative is a real treat” (Booklist, starred review).
Editor's Note
Laugh with your siblings…
Jacobs explores humanity’s interconnectedness, culminating in what he hopes will be the world’s largest family reunion. The narrative is hilarious, touching, and thoughtful. Ultimately, you'll feel awed at what makes us human, and closer to your cousins all around the globe.
A. J. Jacobs
A.J. Jacobs is the author of Thanks a Thousand, It’s All Relative, Drop Dead Healthy, and the New York Times bestsellers The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, and My Life as an Experiment. He is a contributor to NPR, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly. He lives in New York City with his wife and kids. Visit him at AJJacobs.com and follow him on Twitter @ajjacobs.
More audiobooks from A. J. Jacobs
Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (Unabridged Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to It's All Relative
Related audiobooks
Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dave Barry Talks Back Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NERVE: Adventures in the Science of Fear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Struck by Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Smartest Book in the World: A Lexicon of Literacy, a Rancorous Reportage, a Concise Curriculum of Cool Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying ""Yes"" to Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything All at Once: How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap into Radical Curiosity and Solve Any Problem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Do Men Have Nipples? Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything: Adventures in Math and Science Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men's Prison Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bill Nye's Funniest Thoughts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crash Test Girl: An Unlikely Experiment in Using the Scientific Method to Answer Life’s Toughest Questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daditude Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Make Me Pull Over!: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For This We Left Egypt?: A Passover Haggadah for Jews and Those Who Love Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Best Mistake: Epic Fails and Silver Linings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat . . . Everything with Ranch Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Personal Memoirs For You
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Night: New translation by Marion Wiesel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counting the Cost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wishful Drinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Mormon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer of Fall: Gravity is a bitch, but I'm still standing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Making It So: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Lucy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for It's All Relative
19 ratings0 reviews