false 23425 16 Anyone who&#8217;s ever lost sleep over an unreturned phone call or the neighbor&#8217;s Lexus had better read Alain de Botton&#8217;s irresistibly clear-headed new book, immediately. For in its pages, a master explicator of our civilization and its discontents turns his attention to the insatiable quest for status, a quest that has less to do with material comfort than with love. To demonstrate his thesis, de Botton ranges through Western history and thought from St. Augustine to Andrew Carnegie and Machiavelli to Anthony Robbins.<br><br>Whether it&#8217;s assessing the class-consciousness of Christianity or the convulsions of consumer capitalism, dueling or home-furnishing, <b>Status Anxiety</b> is infallibly entertaining. And when it examines the virtues of informed misanthropy, art appreciation, or walking a lobster on a leash, it is not only wise but helpful. 868469 10 5 2005 Status Anxiety total:689|5:158|4:260|3:212|2:47|1:12| 689 2572 1150 106 5 2 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 15:21:15 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 04 17:54:52 -0700 2007
I love comparitive philosophy. I especially love it when it's well-researched and well-written. Alain's st...more...]]> 0 1 false false Sat Mar 22 15:40:22 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 15:40:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Wed Feb 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 16:28:31 -0800 2008 Tue Jun 10 13:39:06 -0700 2008
what's remarkable then is that it does so in such a clear and erudite manner that nearly every part ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 23:30:38 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 23:30:38 -0800 2009
In the classic de Botton format, philosophy is woven wit...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Wed Feb 18 06:26:58 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 06:29:55 -0800 2009
We care about our status for a simple reason: becaus...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Feb 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 01:20:05 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 18:36:02 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Nov 23 09:25:56 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 09:41:45 -0800 2008
Here's a quote from p.9... "Th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 14:15:26 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 18:42:41 -0700 2009 De Botton doesn't claim that status anxiety is a new phenomenon, but explores the modern manifesta...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:25:44 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:25:44 -0800 2009 From the creator of the "literary self-help" genre comes a new volume of social criticism and lively anecdotes for The New Yorker set. De Botton's trademark erudition is the foundation for his road map, and he spares no literary reference towards the goal of enlightening his audience. Like...

more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 14:44:56 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 14:55:00 -0700 2009
The book's a short philosophical exercise that goes through causes, ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 11:22:37 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 11:23:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 12:18:31 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 11:39:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 06 20:33:05 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 07:34:10 -0700 2009
Maybe it's schadenfreude, ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 08:56:47 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 15:52:03 -0700 2008 Alain de Botton that I've read this month. The first one was about the ability of philosophy to console us during life's trials. This book is an examination of the causes and potential cures for social anxiety, which he defines as "a worry ... that we are in d...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 11:46:11 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 12 11:18:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 23 06:32:29 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 06:54:49 -0700 2008
How fun to read my way into new perspectives on my situation, and this culture of consumption, where me...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 22 00:16:46 -0800 2007 Mon Apr 14 22:42:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 16 17:59:17 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 09 19:23:38 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Thu Aug 23 10:30:36 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 10:57:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 22:10:27 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 14:45:26 -0800 2009 Guns Germs and Steel ended. A thoughtful look at how we form our expectations of wealth, value, and personal relationships. (and how reality is often in conflict with those ideas!)

Like many of the other reviewers, I found the book...more...]]>