Entertainingly thought-provoking

books:


	• Status Anxiety Alain De Botton Vintage, 2005 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Important Satire

Status Anxiety as coined by Alain de Botton, is probably one of the most important aspects of modern western life, as it is propably one of the greatest causes for unhappiness in us modern supermarket folk.

His book dives deep into this issue, and shows how the lack of Status Anxiety can bring one much more happiness.

A good way of avoiding misery

Status Anxiety sets out to use philosophy, art, history and economics to describe and understand what drives us to seek status and why we become envious of the success of those around us. This book is not a philosophy text and, like Alain's other books, is written in an easy to read style and tackles the question in an interesting and thoughtful way.

The book is written in two parts, with the first covering the causes of status anxiety, which Alain De Botton sets out as being lovelessness, snobbery, expectation, meritocracy and dependence. In each case he sets out to explore what is the driver of each form of status anxiety, delving into numerous historical examples to explain his case.

The second section of the book details what he believes could be solutions of the afore mentioned problems. These solutions include and examination of status within philosophy, art, politics, Christianity and Bohemia culture and concludes that while each of these groups did not do away with status, they attempted to remould what status was. This therefore allows those who do not quite fit into what their generation's idea of status is, to comfortably find their place in society and to have status somewhere within society.

Alain writes in an easy to read style and fills his books with interesting and appropriate pictures, diagrams and draws on a wide variety of sources to make his point. Thought easy to read, each chapter has, none the less, a depth to each discussion and are in no way intellectually floppy.

While this book is not in anyway a philosophy text book, the ideas it raises and the thoughts it generates are complex in their nature and Alain has used many non-philosophical arguments and examples to back up his case.

for more information click here

two different audio versions

My mother enjoyed Alain de Botton's book Status Anxiety on cd, read by the author- so she suggested I listen to it on a road trip I took recently. So I did, and I liked it well enough, but found the author's voice very cool and uninteresting, inflectionless. I was surprised, looking at the label of the cd to find that it was abridged, so I bought a copy of the book at a local bookshop and there was so much in it that was not on the cd, not to mention all the pictures (of course). This abridged cd version left out the entire section on Humor, for one thing, and many interesting details- I have not had time to comb through and discover how many.
I got her the audio book because she cannot read anymore, because of her bad eyesight. Now I see there is a new, unabridged version- what a pity that she had to listen to the abridged one instead.

for more information click here

Entertainingly thought-provoking

Like a series of footnotes to an otherwise non-existent text, SA is a collection of so many observations -- few of them original, many of them interesting, all of them all the more interesting for their juxtaposing. SA is a bit of philosophy, a bit of history, a bit of sociology, and some other bits tossed in a bowl and stirred together. The resulting brew had just enough caffeine to keep me awake and alert from start to finish, and just enough flavor to please the palate. Having finished, I now have a keener sense of why status anxiety is, ever was, and will likely ever be a significant force in human affairs. Overall, a pleasurable and thought-provoking read.

for more information click here

very thought provoking

i am very busy and have no time to read non professional subjects except on vacations. i read two non work related books a year. this is my fourth Alain de Botton title. so i suppose in a way you could say i am illiterate although i have over four years of post college education. call me what you will, de Botton has again turned my world view upside down. OK i am not being very specific. let's just say i finally understand some of the things in my world that never made sense to me before. YMMV. good luck.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Anyone who?s ever lost sleep over an unreturned phone call or the neighbor?s Lexus had better read Alain de Botton?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.

Whether it?s assessing the class-consciousness of Christianity or the convulsions of consumer capitalism, dueling or home-furnishing, Status Anxiety 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.

for more information click here

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Shellenberger and Nordhaus - Society and Economy
A Collection of 15 Unrelated Insightful Books
Favorite non-fiction of an historical nature
Books about finding & creating Happiness

anxiety

What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming ...
Hope and Help for Your Nerves (Signet)
Serenity: A Suite of Four Guided Imagery Meditations - A Meditation CD
Brain Wave Vibration: Getting Back into the Rhythm of a Happy, ...
In The SpotLight, Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking and Performing

search for books
status anxiety, anxiety, status

Impressum / about us