B&N Community

The most important thing to know about Swiss-British writer Alain de Botton is that he is a philosopher of everyday life. In previous books, he has offered reflections on love, travel, architecture, and anxiety, making our experience of each more relevant and understandable. In The Pleasures & Sorrows of Work, he examines the working world, where many of us spend most of our lives. To discover what it is about the daily labors that so dominate our mental lives, he gleans observations from his encounters with factory workers, artists, career counselors, accountants, fishermen, and others. His insights about subjects such as what are the qualities that make works happy or sad; meaningful or mindless drudgery. Work is a topic we all think we know everything about; this insightful book proves us wrong.