
Alain de Botton
de Botton is also the author of many works of nonfiction including Kiss and Tell, How Proust Can Chance Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Architecture of Happiness, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, A Week at the Airport, Religion for Atheists, How to Think More about Sex, The News: A User’s Manual, and Status Anxiety.
Offering advice and analysis on topics such as happiness, work, travel, love, and religion has seen de Botton’s books rank alongside self-help and personal enlightenment books. Author and investor Tim Ferris has praised de Botton as “a rare breed of practical philosopher” while the New York Times has described de Botton as “a kind of cosmopolitan Yoda”.
de Botton studied history at Cambridge University and earned a Masters in Philosophy at King’s College London.
He is the co-founder of the School of Life, which is headquartered in London and has locations around the world in including in Sydney, Amsterdam, and Berlin. The School of Life offers education on developing emotional intelligence and holds regular classes and workshops. Alain de Botton was born 20 December 1969 in Switzerland. He lives in London with his family.
Alain de Botton Audiobooks
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The Course of Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At dinner parties and over coffee, Rabih and Kirsten's friends always ask them the same question: how did you meet? The answer comes easily - it's a happy story, one they both love to tell. But there is a second part to this story, the answer to a question their friends never ask: what happened next? Rabih and Kirsten find each other, fall in love, get married. Society tells us this is the end of the story. In fact it is only the beginning.
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enlightening
- By Corne on 22-07-2016
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Essays in Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Essays in Love is a stunningly original love story. Taking in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, history, religion and Groucho Marx, Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak.
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Alain De Botton- fav comedian?
- By mariah.stock on 01-03-2022
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The Romantic Movement
- Sex, Shopping and the Novel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In The Romantic Movement, Alain de Botton explores the progress of a love affair from first meeting to breaking up, intercut with musings on the nature of art of love. The relationship between Alice, an advertising executive, and Eric, a banker, is examined at every stage, supplemented by quizzes and commentary by a chorus of great philosophers, from Descartes to Plato to Aretha Franklin. The Romantic Movement will charm listeners and lovers alike with wit, insight, and intelligence.
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How Proust Can Change Your Life
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letter, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful.
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Terri’s and improves with each listening
- By Peter C. Howie on 04-07-2019
-
The Course of Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At dinner parties and over coffee, Rabih and Kirsten's friends always ask them the same question: how did you meet? The answer comes easily - it's a happy story, one they both love to tell. But there is a second part to this story, the answer to a question their friends never ask: what happened next? Rabih and Kirsten find each other, fall in love, get married. Society tells us this is the end of the story. In fact it is only the beginning.
-
-
enlightening
- By Corne on 22-07-2016
-
Essays in Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Essays in Love is a stunningly original love story. Taking in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, history, religion and Groucho Marx, Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak.
-
-
Alain De Botton- fav comedian?
- By mariah.stock on 01-03-2022
-
The Romantic Movement
- Sex, Shopping and the Novel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Romantic Movement, Alain de Botton explores the progress of a love affair from first meeting to breaking up, intercut with musings on the nature of art of love. The relationship between Alice, an advertising executive, and Eric, a banker, is examined at every stage, supplemented by quizzes and commentary by a chorus of great philosophers, from Descartes to Plato to Aretha Franklin. The Romantic Movement will charm listeners and lovers alike with wit, insight, and intelligence.
-
How Proust Can Change Your Life
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letter, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful.
-
-
Terri’s and improves with each listening
- By Peter C. Howie on 04-07-2019
-
A Week at the Airport
- A Heathrow Diary
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alain de Botton was given unprecedented, unrestricted access to wander around Heathrow, one of the world’s biggest airports, having been appointed its Writer-in-Residence. He spoke with everyone from airline staff and senior executives to travellers passing through, and based on these conversations he produced this extraordinary account of life at an airport and what it says about modern existence.
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Mundane
- By Anonymous User on 31-12-2024
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The Art of Travel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
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The News
- A User's Manual
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are never really taught how to make sense of the torrent of news we face every day, writes Alain de Botton (author of the best-selling The Architecture of Happiness), but this has a huge impact on our sense of what matters and of how we should lead our lives. In his dazzling new book, de Botton takes twenty-five archetypal news stories - including an airplane crash, a murder, a celebrity interview and a political scandal - and submits them to unusually intense analysis with a view to helping us navigate our news-soaked age.
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Very insightful
- By Mark on 15-06-2015
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The Architecture of Happiness
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings, and streets we’re surrounded by. And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be - and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
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-
My favourite book of all time
- By WhiteDesertRose on 11-02-2024
-
A Week at the Airport
- A Heathrow Diary
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alain de Botton was given unprecedented, unrestricted access to wander around Heathrow, one of the world’s biggest airports, having been appointed its Writer-in-Residence. He spoke with everyone from airline staff and senior executives to travellers passing through, and based on these conversations he produced this extraordinary account of life at an airport and what it says about modern existence.
-
-
Mundane
- By Anonymous User on 31-12-2024
-
The Art of Travel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
-
The News
- A User's Manual
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are never really taught how to make sense of the torrent of news we face every day, writes Alain de Botton (author of the best-selling The Architecture of Happiness), but this has a huge impact on our sense of what matters and of how we should lead our lives. In his dazzling new book, de Botton takes twenty-five archetypal news stories - including an airplane crash, a murder, a celebrity interview and a political scandal - and submits them to unusually intense analysis with a view to helping us navigate our news-soaked age.
-
-
Very insightful
- By Mark on 15-06-2015
-
The Architecture of Happiness
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings, and streets we’re surrounded by. And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be - and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
-
-
My favourite book of all time
- By WhiteDesertRose on 11-02-2024
Audiobook Review — The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
-
The Course of Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At dinner parties and over coffee, Rabih and Kirsten's friends always ask them the same question: how did you meet? The answer comes easily - it's a happy story, one they both love to tell. But there is a second part to this story, the answer to a question their friends never ask: what happened next? Rabih and Kirsten find each other, fall in love, get married. Society tells us this is the end of the story. In fact it is only the beginning.
-
-
enlightening
- By Corne on 22-07-2016
“Alain De Botton is an outstanding human being. If he decides to write about something, he makes sure he knows everything about the topic. He writes because he is genuinely passionate about helping people to live better lives … And far from being a part of the typical American style self-help guru, Alain does not set himself up on any kind pedestal, nor do you feel when listening, that you are being judged. It is simply an observation. Anyway, this book helped me understand my husband better. And for that, our relationship is better. Loved it to the end, and didn't want the story to end…” Tracey, Audible listener.
Audiobook Review — Essays in Love by Alain de Botton
-
Essays in Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Essays in Love is a stunningly original love story. Taking in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, history, religion and Groucho Marx, Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak.
-
-
Alain De Botton- fav comedian?
- By mariah.stock on 01-03-2022
“Alain de Botton meticulously dissects that bizarre and complex creature: the Love Affair. He takes every emotion felt, and every action taken, and - through the magnifying glass of philosophy - analyses the whole process of falling in love ... As with everything of Alain de Botton’s that I’ve read, 'Essays in Love' is rich with ideas and beautifully written: he manages to put heart into what could otherwise be rather abstract intellectual concepts ... A wonderful book - brilliantly narrated, too - that is going to stay with me for a long time.” M, Audible listener.