It's all relative
Subtitle: adventures up and down the world's family tree
By: A.J. Jacobs
Edition: Large print edition.
Series: Thorndike Press large print popular and narrative nonfiction; Thorndike Press large print popular and narrative nonfiction
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 459
ISBN-13: 9781432844455
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Large type books; Humor; Family; Genealogy; Anecdotes
Other titles: It is all relative; Adventures up and down the world's family tree
Description: "New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs undergoes 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" --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 449-454).
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The eighth cousin; title: The world family tree; title: DNA sharing is caring; title: A great (or possibly terrible) idea; title: A pandemonium of genealogists; title: Historical voyeurism; title: Genetic jambalaya; title: Groundhog Sam and my 2,585 southern cousins; title: Embracing failure; title: Should family be abolished?; title: The good cousin; title: Adam and Eve; title: Kissing cousins; title: The Greatest Generation (and the upside of cigarettes); title: Thank you for having sex; title: Biological and logical families; title: Ellis Island; title: Our Neanderthal cousins; title: Family feuds; title: Who's your father?; title: Son-in-law of the American Revolution; title: The mega-tree revolution; title: Our animal cousins; title: Big love; title: The other side of the dash; title: Privacy; title: The genius of Isaac Newton; title: Fathers and sons; title: Twins and twins, also more twins; title: Five mothers; title: Black sheep; title: My presidential cousin; title: Tradition!; title: The Kevin Bacon delusion; title: The pilgrimage; title: An ocean of cousins; title: Cheers to the dead; title: My celebrity cousins; title: 51 percent of the family tree; title: The melting pot; title: The FBI and my grandpa; title: The great surname challenge; title: Awkward family photos; title: Brother versus brother; title: The global family reunion; title: We are, without a doubt, irrefutably, family.