Alain de Botton is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including On Love, How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Art of Travel, and The Course of Love. He lives in London where he founded The School of Life, an organization devoted to fostering emotional health and intelligence. More can be found at AlainDeBotton.com
Praise for On Love:
"The Romantic Movement sheds light on the nature of
relationships...The method of telling much and showing little
produces a good deal of wit, cogency, and humor."
--John Updike, The New Yorker "A reader gets whiffs of Donald
Barthelme, Julian Barnes, Woody Allen...De Botton borrows
exuberantly, and well, from forebears [and] therein lies the
buoyant charm of this approach."
--Lisa Zeidner, The New York Times Book Review "Smart and
ironic...The success of On Love has much to do with its beautifully
modeled sentences, its wry humor, and its unwavering deadpan
respect for the reader's intelligence."
--Francine Prose, The New Yorker
Praise for The Architecture of Happiness:
"De Botton has a marvelous knack for coming at weighty subjects
from entertainingly eccentric angles."
--The Seattle Times "An elegant book. . . . Unusual . . . full of
big ideas. . . . Seldom has there been a more sensitive marriage of
words and images."
--The New York Sun "With originality, verve, and wit, de Botton
explains how we find reflections of our own values in the edifices
we make. . . . Altogether satisfying."
--San Francisco Chronicle "De Botton is high falutin' but user
friendly. . . . He keeps architecture on a human level."
--Los Angeles Times
Praise for How Proust Can Change Your Life:
"Delightfully original.... As well as being criticism, biography,
literary history, and a reader's guide to Proust's masterpiece,
this is a self-help book in the deepest sense of the term."
--The New York Times
"One of my favorite books of the year.... Seriously cheeky,
cheekily serious."
--Julian Barnes "Curious, humorous, didactic, and dazzling.... It
contains more human interest and play of fancy than most
fiction."
--John Updike, The New Yorker "A witty, elegant book that helps us
learn what reading is for."
--Doris Lessing "A wonderful meditation on aspects of Proust in the
form of a self-help book. Very enjoyable."
--Sebastian Faulks "Funny and very refreshing."
--San Francisco Chronicle
Praise for The Consolations of Philosophy: "Wonderfully original,
quirky.... De Botton finds inspiration where others might fail to
look."
--Newsday "An enjoyable read... In clear, witty prose, de
Botton...sets some of [the philosophers'] ideas to the mundane task
of helping readers with their personal problems.... The quietly
ironic style and eclectic approach will gratify many postmodern
readers."
--Publishers Weekly
PRAISE FOR THE COURSE OF LOVE: "The Course of Love is a return to
the form that made Mr. de Botton's name in the mid-1990s.... love
is the subject best suited to his obsessive aphorizing, and in this
novel he again shows off his ability to pin our hopes, methods and
insecurities to the page."
-The New York Times "There's no writer alive like de Botton, and
his latest ambitious undertaking is as enlightening and humanizing
as his previous works."
-Chicago Tribune "For me, the publication of any book by Alain de
Botton is as much a reason for celebration as it is for
cerebration, and his novel The Course of Love is a satisfying look
at relationships and the perils of romantic love. This public
philosopher writes with verve."
-Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com) "This book is like a self-help book
for dating and relationships, disguised as a novel...We understand
what each person is thinking and why, with de Botton's insights
sprinkled in. It made me rethink what it means to be happy in a
relationship."
-The Cut (NYMag.com) "[De Botton] analyzes Rabih's feelings,
especially, with the finesse of a therapist--and in fact there is
more than a whiff of the couch in this exemplary tale...Readers
looking for insights and guidance will find plenty."
-NPR "An engrossing tale [that] provides plenty of food for
thought."
-People (Best New Books pick) "Assured...The author deftly delivers
both sides of the marriage, exploring the incompatible interplay of
romantic love and practical love...Part literary novel, part
self-help handbook, "The Course of Love" certainly illuminates the
subtle and not-so-subtle fissures of one modern marriage and what
it takes for two people to stay together through the years...this
nontraditional novel is generous in its spirit and message."
-San Francisco Chronicle "A cunning novel that tells of a couple
from the spark of first love, maintenance through the demands of
children and career, the challenges of boredom, and aging. What
happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average
existence?"
-San Francisco Chronicle "A living, volatile portrait of how two
very different souls love, complement and aggravate each other. You
may not agree with all of de Botton's thoughts on marriage, but
it's wonderful how he makes such a big, sweeping subject out of
routine existence...[De Botton's] uncanny access to Rabih's and
Kirsten's contrasting feelings, aspirations, insecurities and
resentments at every changing stage of their love lives makes the
novel a marvel."
-Seattle Times '"The always-intriguing de Botton, who returns to
fiction after 20 years and numerous nonfiction books, aims to
answer the question, What is it like to be married for awhile? The
answers are often funny but also quite moving, thought provoking,
forgiving, and drenched in truth."
--Booklist "An ambitious book; one that resolves, if it cannot
change art, to widen our expectations of what we might go to a
novel for. The lives of Kirsten and Rabih...help us in a solemn way
to examine the illusions and pains that loving relationships are
heir to. The Course of Love testifies that discontented families,
if we cannot call them unhappy ones, are much alike after all."
--Flavorwire "Well-observed and imbued with a tenderness that feels
authentic and uncynical. It may even save some marriages. My bet is
that if de Botton's name were taken off this book it would be fêted
by the sort of people who are in thrall to Milan Kundera and Adam
Thirlwell. He wants us to feel less alone -- and that's not such a
bad thing."
--Evening Standard (UK) "The course of true love may not run
smooth, but the storytelling certainly does in this wise, humane
and irresistibly readable history of an appealingly nuanced
relationship. De Botton deftly moves us through time, weaving in
philosophical interludes that showcase his essayistic gifts, so
that before we know it we have lived a whole life with these two,
and they are just getting started. De Botton directs his ferocious
intelligence at the most complex puzzle of all, and it seems that
no intellectual or emotional problem surpasses his ability to solve
it."
--Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not
Ourselves "The Course of Love is a complete delight. Not
surprisingly, I feel that Alain de Botton not only wrote it for me,
but also that we must have been conversing on these subjects
happily and deeply, privately or in my dreams."
--Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of Away and Lucky Us
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