false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255785344m/5293573.jpg 5293573 16 <b>Combining narrative virtuosity, a scholar’s grasp of history, an intellectual intrepidness, and a dazzling ability to reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary (and vice versa), Alain de Botton has created his own ever-surprising genre into which <i>The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work</i> fits brilliantly. </b><br><br>In this tantalizing new book, Alain de Botton takes on an activity common to us all—the activity in which most of us spend the majority of our time, but which rarely gets serious attention beyond the realm of cartoons and television sitcoms. With his signature élan and expansive curiosity, de Botton explores a diversity of occupations—from accountant to aircraft salesman, painter to power-station designer, career counselor to cookie manufacturer—and the vast diversity of locations where these occupations are undertaken. Peering closely at details of the workday and workplace that we tend to overlook, and asking questions that we hesitate to ask ourselves (To what end do we exhaust ourselves on a daily basis? What makes work pleasurable? Why <i>isn’t</i> it pleasurable when it isn’t?), de Botton gets at the whys and wherefores of routine, practice, and process, focusing a new and unexpectedly revealing light on the essential meaning of work in our lives. 5361000 2 6 2009 The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work total:210|5:38|4:74|3:68|2:28|1:2| 210 748 862 76 5 2 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 18:22:34 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 18:28:22 -0700 2009
"In older, more hierarchical societies, an individual's fate had largely been decided by the accidents of birth; the difference between success and failure had not hung on ...more...]]> 3 3 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 20:33:08 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 18:15:08 -0700 2009
It makes sense, then, to focus on work, but this book does not live up to the promise of its...more...]]> 5 6 false false Thu Jun 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 11:06:21 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 17:22:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 16:57:51 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 17:14:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 14:21:26 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 15:07:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 18:39:23 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 19:13:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 22:45:17 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 22:48:13 -0700 2009
...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 19:09:49 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:18:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 18:47:11 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 22:44:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 07:19:21 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 11:34:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 2 true false Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 20:57:48 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 07:55:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 09:47:05 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 09:54:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 06 07:45:40 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 11:56:58 -0700 2009
Let Mr. de Botton and his photographer jolt you from your sun-soaked torpor; ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jul 30 11:27:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 11:27:00 -0700 2009 Houston Chronicle). His erudition, sardonic sense of humor, and elegant writing frame the fascinating, if elusive, questions he sets out to answer. Though the New York Times Book Review considered...more...]]> 4 0 false true Wed Jul 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 09:58:54 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 14:00:50 -0700 2009
Through an exploration and r...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 04:27:29 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 16:03:14 -0700 2009
I was expected a book along the lines of "I have a theory about working and am going to write in essay format to define it." Couldn't be further from the truth. De Botton writes in prose; he presents his ideas as a stream-of-events-and-consciousness as he follows th...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 23 00:42:46 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 20:26:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 10:14:38 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 14:42:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 05:56:54 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 05:58:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 10:44:07 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 20:11:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5293573