Kiss & Tell

Rating:
Summary: The dangers of dating a writer/philosopher
Review: After finishing Alain de Botton's biography/novel KISS AND TELL, I found myself hoping on behalf of its putative subject Isabel Jane Rogers that this work is more fiction than fact. Or at least that "Isabel" is a composite of every young woman the author ever dated and not a real individual person. Although de Botton catalogs many of "Isabel's" quirky habits (her poor sense of geography, the way she picks her nose and chews on the callouses on her fingers, etc.), he exhibits enough of his own dubious traits (for instance, he admits letting her plants die unwatered while devouring half a box of her chocolates while house-sitting for her one time) to give us a sense that in some unprovable way, he is at least playing fair.

But under this delicious patina of pettiness, there are a number of more serious subjects. Such as the nature of biography itself. And whether our versions of ourselves are any more reliable than those of an outside observer. The nature of memory. And a comparison of the virtues and liabilities of the fat, detail-obsessed Boswelian biographies versus the "toast-sized", summary-style biographical sketches of an Aubrey. (Anyone who has read--or tried to write--an obituary for a family member will find the chapter "In Search of an Ending" fascinating.) And anyone who is familiar with de Botton's other works will not be surprised how he manages to draw the likes of Marcel Proust, Adam Smith, Frederick Nietzsche, Tolstoy, and Hippocrates into the conversation, as well as zany bits of pop psychology like graphology, palmistry, and magazine personality questionnaires. To support the trope that KISS AND TELL is a real biography, de Botton even provides a 12-page, fully functioning index (complete with entries on "toenails" and "sex.") As a work of fiction, KISS AND TELL isn't nearly as interesting as his earlier novel, ON LOVE, but it is an amusing book...and it will make you think about your own quirks and self-delusions.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing!
Review: After reading "On Love" by Alain De Botton, I was set to enjoy more of his amusing and interesting prose, yet instead I found myself struggling to finish, easily distracted, and wishing I had never bought the book. Lacking the wit and charm I found in "On Love", "Kiss and Tell" is stale and dry, like a piece of bread that has sat out on the kitchen counter all night. If you're an Alain De Botton fan, you can skip this one.

Rating:
Summary: Biography As A Means to Love
Review: First of all, this work of fiction gives off the scent of being fact-based. It is unclear whether this is due to Botton drawing from a wellspring of personal experience - one gets the feeling that he knew and loved a woman just like this one, almost as if this book was his way of relieving some of the heartache of breakup with little literary therapy - or whether it reflects a profound philosophical understanding Botton has of the human psyche. After all, this comes from the author of "The Consolations of Philosophy" and "How Proust Can Change Your Life". He is an avowed fan of Proust and anyone else who is can understand his attempts to replicate a method of understanding motivations, idiosyncrasies and silly private habits Proust defined so well seventy-five years ago. Botton even inserts Proust as a sort of cameo analogy partway through the book. However, before potential Proustian analogies scare you off, please realize this is an accessible book, readable by all of us who have at one time been involved in a romance. Inevitably, the use of biography as a technique for or result of falling in love with someone leads us into what we already know - that as we love someone, as we biograph them and come to know them, we incorporate them into our self. Accused of being a selfish jerk by an ex-girlfriend in the beginning - which catalyses the ensuing pursuit of recording a life - the author tries to expunge himself of self-centeredness by becoming enthralled in another person. The subject of his interest, Isabel, increasingly has her slightest habits dissembled - humorous to us, eventually unnerving to her. As the narrator becomes more engrossed, encoding everything he sees for posterity, he is really drawn more and more back into the selfish pattern of talking about himself. He assimilates, as we all do, that which we wish to understand. To understand it, we must make it part of us, which leads us back to the original conundrum - that we are all selfish jerks, essentially. Botton explores this while probing the pithy everyday reality of most biographies, even good ones. While we realize it only partly, most are predictable dissertations, in chronological order, of a person's exploits - some famous, or some so commonplace that they become famous merely by virtue of their universality. This is what Isabel becomes, despite the main character's attempt to fend it off, and this becomes a main point of this very familiar, approachable book. That what we do reflects what we love, what we love reflects who we are, and what we are reflects what we do. A Gordian knot any philosopher would appreciate.

Rating:
Summary: Amusing breath of air...
Review: Okay, I may have not read the *entire* book, but I did read a spectacular passage from "Kiss and Tell" during my AP Literature and Composition exam. It's not often I grin after reading AP test passages. However, that brief excertp from De Bottom's novel had me grinning and absolutely praising whatever AP God had seen fit to bless me w/ such a delightful passage to write about.

I was so intrigued by the passage, I actually decided to buy the book after I was done. (How often does that happen?)

Rating:
Summary: Another Brilliant de Botton Book
Review: Outstanding fictional examination of how we perceive each other as humans as well as the art and form of biography. The narrator, derided as being self-absorbed, decides to write a biography of the next person he meets. Thus, we are treated to his attempt to do this with "Isabel", a young London woman he meets at a party. De Botton spins it all with a very light, often comic, touch, and yet manages to raise some fairly deep issues relating to how our perceptions of others are formed and shape our actions. Very good stuff which makes me want to find his other work and read it immediately. Fans of "High Fidelity" will likely find this a slightly higher-brow, but very enjoyable book. See also "On Love" and "The Romantic Movement."

Rating:
Summary: Kiss and Tell? No thrill here...
Review: Some of this book is brillant. De Botton thoughts on memory and how we view relationships can be amazing. He also can be funny. I was impressed with many of his ideas. On the other hand, by page 150 or so, I found the constant analysis of biographic form to be grating. I can see why Isabel felt as she did at time (although she is no great woman by any means). Again (as in On Love, a far superior book), we have a nameless narrator and no details on his life. Oh well. It is amusing at times, but not worth the time invested. Alas, I shall fall silent now.

Rating:
Summary: Kiss and Tell? No thrill here...
Review: Some of this book is brillant. De Botton thoughts on memory and how we view relationships can be amazing. He also can be funny. I was impressed with many of his ideas. On the other hand, by page 150 or so, I found the constant analysis of biographic form to be grating. I can see why Isabel felt as she did at time (although she is no great woman by any means). Again (as in On Love, a far superior book), we have a nameless narrator and no details on his life. Oh well. It is amusing at times, but not worth the time invested. Alas, I shall fall silent now.

Rating:
Summary: New Take on Biographies
Review: This is a humorous and witty book written from the viewpoint of a biography on someone that is not famous. It makes the point that we may know everything there is to about Lincoln, but do we know how he liked his eggs. The characters are alive, and you truly feel sorry for the simplicity of the subjects life. Botton, a Swiss native, is a master of British humor... and many funny moments come through on the page as he writes the definitive biography of Isabel Rogers. It is a book that really does a great job of poking fun at biographers and what they must do in order to capture the essence of a person. Worthy read, and the author is worth reading again.

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining and witty
Review: This is de Botton's strangest book - half biography, half novel, but it really works. The idea sounds strange, but he pulls it off, managing to write a book that is not only emotionally effecting, but also highly thought-provoking. Their are pencil marks all over my copy.