The joys and sorrows of work

Author's name: Alain de Botton

The translator's name is Al-Harith Al-Nabhan

We spend most of our time at work, yet we rarely ask how we got to where we are and what our jobs mean to us. Why do most of us have a complex love-hate relationship with our jobs? How has work taken over our lives? What can we do about it? With a philosophical eye and a de Bottonian style characterized by wit and humor, the author takes us on a carefully selected journey, from space scientists to biscuit factories, from accounting to art, in search of what makes work a source of destruction for our lives or a source of self-fulfillment and fulfillment. Work shapes us; without it, we are lost; through it, we hope to control the conditions of our lives, yet, for many of us, it is a prison from which we cannot escape. Through visits to workplaces and through the wisdom and humor of prominent artists, writers, and thinkers, de Botton explores our love/hate relationship with work. He reflects on and answers difficult and important questions such as: What do I do with my life? What should I have accomplished when I retire? This book is an exploration of the joys and perils of modern work, offering us beautiful pictures of how most people spend their days to keep the wheels of our hectic world turning.