Perspective

De Botton has created what amounts to a self-help book, with wisdom founded upon a rather unusual source, Marcel Proust. It is clear that De Botton has plenty of affection and respect for the French author, and that De Botton's hope is to make Proust more accessible to a general audience. De Botton is an author himself and undoubtedly he has been influenced by Proust.

This influence has a kind of echo effect in the work itself. Proust was heavily influenced by the work of John Ruskin, but then reached a point where Ruskin was inadequate for Proust's need for self-expression, thus leading to Proust's own writing. In the same way, De Botton greatly admires Proust, but in this book he has certainly put his own philosophical stamp on the material. De Botton may begin with an anecdote or noteworthy event from Proust's life, but his creative interpretation...