Status Anxiety Author:Alain de Botton This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that rarely gets mentioned directly: an anxiety about what others think of us, about whether we’re judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. Alain de Botton, best-selling author of The Consolations of Philosophy, asks—with lucidity and charm—wh... more »ere our worries about status come from and what, if anything, we can do to surmount them. With the help of philosophers, artists and writers, he examines the origins of status anxiety before revealing ingenious ways in which people have been able to overcome their worries in the search for happiness. We learn about sandal-less philosophers and topless bohemians, about the benefits of putting skulls on our sideboards, and about looking at ancient ruins. The result is a book that isn’t just highly entertaining and thought-provoking, but that is genuinely wise and helpful, too.« less
Interesting sociological analysis about the roots and manifestations of status anxiety. Should be dry considering the subject matter but de Botton writes in a colloquial, humorous fashion. Easy to read as the work is divided up into numbered sections with their own headings.