First published 2009
From the cubicle to the factory floor, Alain de Botton uncovers the surprising beauty and strangeness of everyday work. Peeling back the curtain on offices, warehouses, and fishing trawlers, he asks the questions we rarely pause to consider: Why do we toil as we do? What drives us, and what are the hidden pleasures and sorrows of our labor? With wry observation and lyrical prose, de Botton reveals the overlooked poetry of the modern workplace, offering a fresh perspective on the central role work plays in our lives.
Genres: business, sociology, non-fiction, 21st-century, workplace, academic
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: slice-of-life
Period: 21st-century
336 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon