The Course of Love

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What to expect

Penguin presents, the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Course of Love by Alain de Botton, read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.

SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

From one of our great thinkers on modern life and the human condition - an unforgettable story of love and marriage from the author of bestselling novel Essays in Love as well as The Consolations of Philosophy, Religion for Atheists and The School of Life

'The Course of Love probes the very heart of marriage
, its shifts and squalls, its great adventure, with such forensic tenderness. I laughed a lot, too' Deborah Moggach

'Engaging, sympathetic, acutely perceptive...
There's a refreshing honesty in what de Botton has to say' Guardian

'Anyone who is, has been, or would ever like to be, in a satisfying, successful relationship, would do well to read de Botton' Irish Independent

'He debunks the myth of the happily ever after
with a painfully familiar, often hilarious detailing of petty arguments, the occasional extra-marital fling, the moments of loneliness and the declining frequency of sex... It's not only hugely enjoyable but life enhancing too' Daily Mail

Modern love is never easy. Society is obsessed with stories of romance, but what comes after happily ever after?

This is a love story with a difference. From dating to marriage, from having kids to having affairs, it follows the progress of a single ordinary relationship: tender, messy, hilarious, painful, and entirely un-Romantic. It is a love story for the modern world, chronicling the daily intimacies, the blazing rows, the endless tiny gestures that make up a life shared between two people. Moving and deeply insightful, The Course of Love offers us a window into essential truths about the nature of love.

Critics Review

  • Alain de Botton’s gift is to prompt us to think about how we live

    Jeanette Winterson
  • Curious, humorous and dazzling… It contains more human interest than most fiction

    John Updike on 'How Proust Can Change Your Life'
  • His prose is lovely: clear, gently persuasive, light of touch

    Observer on Religion for Atheists
  • Alain de Botton likes to take big, complex subjects and write about them with thoughtful and deceptive innocence

    Observer on The Architecture of Happiness

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