THE PLEASURES AND SORROWS OF WORK

De Botton's essays on a variety of endeavors—from accounting to cookie manufacturing to airplane construction—are at once wide ranging, shallow, heartfelt, ironic, and pretentious. David Colacci's lightly astringent voice is agreeable and a good choice for nonfiction; he's skillful, professional, and supplies emotional expression where it's called for. But the narration seems a bit by-the-numbers in the face of de Botton's philosophical and poetic views, and fails to reflect some of the author's nuances and ironies. The book is centered in England and studded with (unexplained) Briticisms, but fortunately Colacci uses his remarkably bad British accent only for the occasional direct quotation. Even his French is better! This is an adequate but unremarkable reading of a maverick book. W.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2009]