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The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

Author: Alain De Botton   Series: Vintage International

Paperback

We spend most of our waking lives at work—in occupations most often chosen by our inexperienced younger selves. And yet we rarely ask ourselves how we got there or what our jobs mean to us. "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work" is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, beautifully exploring what other people wake up to do each day—and night—to make our frenzied world function. With a philosophical eye and his signature combination of wit and wisdom, Alain de Botton leads us on a journey around an eclectic range of occupations, from rocket scientist to biscuit manufacturer, from accountant to artist—in search of what makes jobs either soul-destroying or fulfilling.

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Summary

We spend most of our waking lives at work—in occupations most often chosen by our inexperienced younger selves. And yet we rarely ask ourselves how we got there or what our jobs mean to us. "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work" is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, beautifully exploring what other people wake up to do each day—and night—to make our frenzied world function. With a philosophical eye and his signature combination of wit and wisdom, Alain de Botton leads us on a journey around an eclectic range of occupations, from rocket scientist to biscuit manufacturer, from accountant to artist—in search of what makes jobs either soul-destroying or fulfilling.

Read more

Description

We spend most of our waking lives at work—in occupations most often chosen by our inexperienced younger selves. And yet we rarely ask ourselves how we got there or what our jobs mean to us.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, beautifully exploring what other people wake up to do each day—and night—to make our frenzied world function. With a philosophical eye and his signature combination of wit and wisdom, Alain de Botton leads us on a journey around an eclectic range of occupations, from rocket scientist to biscuit manufacturer, from accountant to artist—in search of what makes jobs either soul-destroying or fulfilling.

Read more

Critic Reviews

“In praise ofThe Pleasures and Sorrows of Work "In the place of easy answers, De Botton offers an array of potent and portable insights about the delight and despair we find, daily, in our working lives." -Los Angeles Times "The Pleasures and Sorrowstreats readers to a cast of eccentrics as it examines the thing we spend most of our lives doing." -Business Week "De Botton's sprightly mix of reportage and rumination expands beyond the workplace to investigate the broader meaning of life." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Like a combination of Joan Didion, David Foster Wallace and pop philosopher Thomas Moore, De Botton's dense, pensive prose expresses a palpable preoccupation with finding better ways of living in our bewilderingly estranged age, littering astute observations with revealing personal asides…De Botton's perspective is so vivid and self-exposing that it's hard not to crave it well after you've put down his books. He has that rare ability to sum up our experience in a handful of well-chosen words, hinting at the pox upon us at this particular point in history with such incisiveness and wisdom that you can't resist searching for remedies in his subtext…Even as he unravels the limitations and disappointments of modern work, De Botton demonstrates, by example, how to become your own unique, unpredictable invention." -Salon.com In praise of The Architecture of Happiness "The best introduction to architecture I have ever seen . . . [De Botton] writes with an engaging freshness . . . I can't recommend this book too highly. It gets just about everything right." -The Boston Globe "A perceptive, thoughtful, original and richly illustrated exercise in the dramatic personification of buildings of all sorts." -The New York Review of Books "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 "An interesting and important addition to the debate over the emotional effect that our cities and buildings have on us . . . .The Architecture of Happinessrightly tell us to trust our senses and personal experience." -The Wall Street Journal "An elegant book . . . . Unusual [and] full of big ideas . . . Seldom has there been a more sensitive marriage of words and images." -The New York Sun”

“Exquisitely written. . . . A perceptive philosophical meditation on work, with its extraordinary claim to provide, along with love, the principal source of meaning in our lives.” Boston Globe

“In the place of easy answers, De Botton offers an array of potent and portable insights about the delight and despair we find, daily, in our working lives.” —Los Angeles Times

Like a combination of Joan Didion, David Foster Wallace and pop philosopher Thomas Moore, De Botton's dense, pensive prose expresses a palpable preoccupation with finding better ways of living in our bewilderingly estranged age.” Salon
 

"With de Botton's humor, boundless erudition and capable turns of phrase, it's the best work yet (and certainly the best-timed) from a pre-eminent genre-bender, one certain to find a welcome home in the hands of anyone making a living.”The Portland Oregonian
 
“Alain de Botton's new philosophical treatise, "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work," feels like an intellectual acid trip without the stimulants. He focuses your gaze where you have never even considered looking and turns upside down your notions of beauty and love and work and what really is involved in crafting a meaningful life. The book is groundbreaking in approach, style and imagination.” The San Francisco Chronicle

 
The Pleasures and Sorrows treats readers to a cast of eccentrics as it examines the thing we spend most of our lives doing.” Business Week
 
“The workplace as subject matter brings out the best in [de Botton’s] writing. . . . His wit and his powers of ironic observation are on display throughout what is a stylish and original book.” The Sunday Times (London)
 
 
“Wonderfully readable stuff. . . . What de Botton is showing us, in his de Botton-esque way, is that, in our world of niched desire and economic efficiency, our working practices might be driving us nuts. . . . A timely book.” The Spectator
 
“Pleasurably intelligent. . . . The author has plenty of thought-provoking things to say.” The Economist
 
“This artful creation reports from planet Earth in the manner of a bookish Martian sending a postcard home. . . . This is a terribly funny book, intentionally so, and its ostensible subject is one that touches all of us.” The Daily Mail
 

“Features passages of imaginative prose as powerful as anything by Charles Dickens or George Orwell and explores the notion that people rarely feel connected to what they do for a living.” Word Magazine
 
“His questions are as important as they are unsettling.”The Financial Times
 
“Teems with sharp portraits, interesting details, and shrewd commentary. . . . De Botton is always fun to watch.” The Guardian

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About the Author

ALAIN DE BOTTON is the author of three works of fiction and six works of nonfiction, including How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, and The Art of Travel. He lives in London, where he founded The School of Life.

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Product Details

Publisher
Random House USA Inc | Random House Inc
Published
1st June 2010
Pages
336
ISBN
9780307277251

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