Nice to see Victoria Beale at the New
Republic taking to task that well-compensated
moralistic therapeutic atheist Alain de Botton, who, thankfully,
has not really caught on as much in the U.S. Our homegrown
equivalent of the type who “might read The Guardian on an
iPad, buy ethical chocolate, and assert an interest in the Booker
shortlist” of course prefers the Sunday New York
Times, cares passionately about the National Book Award,
and, in place of de Botton, has a shelf full of
remaindered Thomas
Friedman hardbacks.
Really, though, I think that marketing public domain thinkers
to les bien pensants is a brilliant idea. Thus
Philippa Perry in How to Stay Sane, published by de
Botton’s School of Life imprint: “When I go away on holiday to
a new place I feel refreshed by having been stimulated by new
sights, smells, environments and culture”: pure mashed potatoes.
Stuff like this all but writes itself. I’m thinking of sitting down
one night and knocking out a few proposals:
. The Brothers James: How a Harvard Philosopher and an Expat
Novelist Can Make You More Thoughtful, Compassionate, and, Yes,
Spiritual!
. Drinking the Day: Wining and Designing with Edith
Wharton
. The Paleo-Feminine Mystique: A Year in the Garden
with Sylvia Townsend Warner (Now there’s a
candidate no one’s going to think of!).
Any suggestions?
