The School of Life

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May 14, 2013 | 1

“There is something ersatz, if not quite fraudulent, about [Alain] de Botton’s entire intellectual enterprise.” At The Los Angeles Review of Books, Lisa Levy throws down the gauntlet.

is an intern for The Millions. She is a writer and recent graduate of Smith College living in Cambridge, MA. She blogs at rhiansasseen.com.

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One comment:

  1. “There is something ersatz, if not quite fraudulent, about [Alain] de Botton’s entire intellectual enterprise.” At The Los Angeles Review of Books, Lisa Levy throws down the gauntlet.

    I’ve been checking out Mr. de Botton’s books since 1998. Ersatz? Hoooey. Fraudulent? How dare you!

    I find his mind limpid, curious, original, and congenitally non-elitist (and that’s coming from a blue collar gal). Loved his book on travel. Who else had the concept of “traveling” around the four corners of your own bedroom, and had the openness to “see” so much there? Who else set up his work desk smack in the middle of a busy airport terminal to chat and converse with the teeming crowd?

    In addition, I think de Botton has a special talent for distilling complex ideas into a deceptively simple form. Not as easy as it looks.

    Finally, if there’s any harm in folks gathering together at a London storefront after work to discuss Love, Travel, Sex, and everything else rather than sit brain-dead before the telly, I’ll never be the one to see it.

    A sour and axe-grindish article, Los Angeles Review of Books!

    Sincerely,

    Maureen Murphy
    (“Moe Murph”)

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