It's All Relative

A New York Times bestseller “ embarks on a world-spanning journey of family and genealogy . . . [in a] ““thought-provoking . . . delightful . . . informative book” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

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 begins Jacobs’s three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history

Jacobs’s journey takes him to all seven continents. He drinks beer with a US president, sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearths genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels..

Entertainment Weekly admits they “love reading about the wacky lifestyle experiments of author A.J. Jacobs.” 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

“[An] entertaining introduction to the world of genealogy. . . . With short, lively chapters and an easygoing voice, Jacobs keeps the story flowing.” —Publishers Weekly

“The astonishing discoveries [Jacobs] makes . . . remind us of the common bonds that unite us as a single global family.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

“A diverting chronicle of a country split apart and yet more self-consciously interrelated than ever.” —New York Magazine

“Wonderfully smart.” —The Washington Independent Review of Books