Have finished Alain de Botton's
Status Anxiety. Easy read, light concepts. An intelligent enough reading, utilising quotes mostly, of the multiple factors contributing to the ideals and norms of society which generate notions of status. Generalisations at a third person remove. A lack of direct intimacy and involvement, though excellently written. Written to be pronounced. Yet not preaching. Eclectic in its sources though not overtly particular nor unsettlingly surprsing. A safe conclusion with Bohemian lifestyles. No radical deconstruction or theory-laden baiting, no subversion or dismissive force. But a strong case for perspectivism and reading widely and critically into the business of life we enact. Perspicacious and friendly, yet not too suffused with the demands of critical genius.
