While the solutions offered were less fascinating than the causes, this book offers an interesting brew of ideas regarding why we worry about what others think of us. I think what Alain de Botton is getting at here is that, while status anxiety is a natural product of several centuries of social, political, philosophical, and psychological evolution in the western world, by exposing oneself to novel ideas, great works of art, some history of political thought, a dose of religious teaching, and perhaps a walk on the wild side, one stands a better chance of rising above such pettiness and living a more healthy and satisfying life. To which I whole-heartedly agree.

I finally started this book last night and had a hard time putting it down. I love how he draws the connection between the modern world’s obsession with status and the history of western civilization. He’s very succinct when it comes to the causes of status anxiety: the increasingly popular notion of equality among men in the 18th century followed by the overthrow of the aristocracy, the expectations of self one gets from living in a meritocracy, the moral weight that comes with having either high or low status, and the dependence on intangibles such as talent and luck.

There’s a lot in this book that I had a vague notion of but could never articulate. It’s almost like a self-help book for people who dislike self-help books (like me). I’m ready to read his “solutions” now.

A great book on a great topic: how to deal with the fact that we’re all anxious about what he broadly defines as “status”. Personally, I do want to be incredibly famous, but most people don’t seem to feel the same. The way he describes our need for status might actually be closer to our universal need to be loved/admired/respected by people. Each word triggers a different goal… and I find that some people relate to the word “respect” more than “star worship”, and some vice versa. Included herein are general philosophies for finding the appropriate subset of set of all people that are most able to satisfy your need.

Personally, I liked the solutions offered in the Philosophy and Bohemian chapter the most. In fact, I think I’m going to look into John Ruskin as a result of a few things mentioned. I have to admit that I skimmed over a bit of the Religion chapter.

My only criticism of this is that, while enjoyable and thought-provoking to read, now that I’m done with the book the thoughts have sort of ceased. Maybe John Ruskin will pick up on the topic of the “wealth of life” where Alain de Botton left off…

It has the best table of contents I’ve seen in a long time. Here it is:

CAUSES
I. Lovelessness…...3
II. Expectation…..11
III. Meritocracy….45
IV. Snobbery….....73
V. Dependence…....85

SOLUTIONS
I. Philosophy…...105
II. Art….........121
III. Politics…...173
IV. Religion…....215
V. Bohemia…......265

I love it. Now I must read it.

This might have been the best book I read this year. I really admire and enjoy de Botton’s casual style of intellectual investigation, and perhaps even better than his Consolations of Philosophy, this tome illustrates how drawing from the investigations of philosophers can help contextualize our travails. Why we care if people like us, how we want to be remembered, money troubles. It is all here and well addressed.