There haven’t been many books in my life that have totally changed the way I have thought, or made me sit up and revaluate my circumstances. If there were, I’d be an incredibly lucky individual. So it was a great pleasure to chance upon Alain de Botton‘s The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Packed full of interviews with people in all sorts of jobs in various spots around the world, from Tuna fishermen in the Maldives to biscuit marketing executives at United Biscuits in Hayes, or scrap heap airplane men in Texas. De Botton, in his usual, amusing, honest and incredibly self aware style gets to the bottom of this rarely investigated subject. Whether intended or not, his interviews and rather amusingly thought provoking (often laugh out loud) analyses of the human condition at work seem to warn the reader. Wake up and think about what you are doing, where you are going, rather than 
merely drift into a half wanted job that ends up defining an unwanted life at 65. Perhaps a point rather sadly made towards the end in an interview with a careers advisor, a body of advice largely ignored and rarely sought by graduates. De Botton, known for his incredible self awareness and eye watering honesty explores this topic and asks you, the reader to be just as equally frank to yourself, for yourself.
As I leafed through the book I slowly realised a new way of looking at what I was doing. I came back from holiday in India where I read the book, a completely new and refreshed individual. I became a lot more honest with myself and made some bold career decisions which, although painful at the time, were the best things I had ever done. Reading this book and taking away the lessons I have learnt from it, have made me a happier individual, both in the work place and at home.
Thank you Mr De Botton!
