Alain de Botton is the author of a number of books that try to throw light on the big challenges of our lives. His books have been sold in thirty-five countries and many have been international bestsellers, including How Proust Can Change Your Life, Essays in Love and The Art of Travel. He is the founder of two social enterprises, the first promoting architecture, Living Architecture, which gets top architects to build holiday homes for rental by everyone. The second enterprise is The School of Life.

The book's success has much to do with its beautifully modelled sentences, its wry humour and its unwavering deadpan respect for its reader's intelligence ... full of keen observation and flashes of genuine lyricism, acuity and depth. -- Francine Prose Witty, funny, sophisticated, neatly tied up, and full of wise and illuminating insights. -- P. J. Kavanagh Spectator De Botton is a national treasure. -- Susan Hill I doubt if de Botton has written a dull sentence in his life. -- Jan Morris New Statesman Single-handedly, de Botton has taken philosophy back to its simplest and most important purpose: helping us to live our lives Independent It's a familiar tale but there is nothing predictable about De Botton's explanation of how love enthrals us all. This is no light romance but a sort of "When Harry Met Sally Meets Roland Barthes"... A novel of wit and insight; whatever the state of your love life, it will make entertaining and sometimes painful, sometimes profitable reading Time Out