A perfect companion to Swann's Way, this innovative study explores Proust and why he matters. Alain de Botton combines two unlikely genres --literary biography and self-help manual -- in this charming and unexpectedly practical book. Drawing from Proust's letters, essays, and fiction, de Botton transforms Proust's life and work into a no-nonsense guide to life, including: enjoying your vacation, reviving a relationship, articulating yourself in an original way, being a good host, recognizing love, and why not to sleep with someone on the first date. De Botton succeeds in creating both a brilliant biographical sketch of one of literature's most beguiling figures and a witty exercise in literary criticism. 2 cassettes.

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