The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
ISBN: 9780307277251
Publication Date: 1 June 2010

"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

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. Here we see 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 souldestroying or fulfilling.