IT'S ALL RELATIVE

From New York Times bestselling author A.J. Jacobs, a hilarious, poignant quest to understand what constitutes family—where it begins and how far it goes—and in so doing recognize what is the "Family of Humankind."

A.J. 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.” 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. His journey would take him to all seven continents (including Antarctica). He drank beer with a U.S. 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.

It’s All Relative upends, in ways both meaningful and hilarious, our understanding of genetics and genealogy, tradition and tribalism, identity and connection.

A.J. Jacobs is a bestselling author, journalist, performance artist and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. THE KNOW-IT-ALL chronicled the 18 months Jacobs spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a quest to learn everything in the world. After improving his mind, A.J. turned to his spirit in THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY where he attempted to follow the hundreds of rules in the Old Testament. His next book looked to his health and DROP DEAD HEALTHY chronicled his quest to be as healthy as humanly possible.