Monday, January 8, 2018

My Cousin AJ Jacobs Has Written Another Great Book!

I really love reading books by the author A.J. Jacobs, and have avidly consumed most of his written works. I only say "most" as I'm sure some article he wrote for a local newspaper when he was 10 has probably escaped my attention. In any case, one of the things I like best is that his smart and sarcastic insights are what I wish I could aspire to if I was any good at writing myself. His prose resonates with me, and his topics are mysteriously in-tune with my own life (yes, I too read the entire encyclopedia when I was in grade school).

In 2009 I briefly corresponded with him, and on 26 Oct 2009 I invited him to join the big family tree on Geni. A mere four years later on 9 Nov 2013 I got an email from Geni telling me that he had accepted! That's lightning response speed in the genealogy world -- you all know what I'm talking about: that one super important close DNA match who still hasn't responded to your many attempts to contact them.


Now, I'm not taking credit for getting A.J. involved in Genealogy. I'm not even suggesting he joined Geni at my recommendation. In fact, according to his story it was his eighth cousin Jules Feldman in Israel who was the tipping point. I only hope that my tiny grain of sand helped with the gravitational pull that eventually led to his involvement.

Well, as AJ does when he does get involved, he really gets involved! He hit the genealogy world full steam and I'm not sure they really knew what hit them.  On 6 Jun 2015 he held The Global Family Reunion in Queens, New York, and in late 2017 he published a book about it all.

It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree
By A.J. Jacobs


I think the thing I like best about the book is that it is completely readable by anyone, and each chapter imparts an important lesson in a funny and down to earth manner.  Gosh darn it, that's exactly what I've been trying to do with this site, and he just did it oh so much better!  Game on!


No no, thank you Cousin AJ. This book couldn't have been more timely and on-topic, and almost seems like it was written specifically for me -- even though I know that it wasn't!




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