The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work - Alain de Botton

Two centuries ago, our forebears would have known the precise history and origin of nearly every one of the limited number of things they ate and owned, as well as of the people and tools involved in their production. They were acquainted with the pig, the carpenter, the weaver, the loom and the dairymaid. The range of items available for purchase may have grown exponentially since then, but our understanding of their genesis has diminished almost to the point of obscurity. We are now as imaginatively disconnected from the manufacture and distribution of our goods as we are practically in reach of them, a process of alienation which has stripped us of myriad opportunities of wonder, gratitude and guilt.

I loved this book. The author takes an in depth look at some ordinary, and yet eccentric jobs--electric power line engineer, cookie maker, motivational speaker, commercial fisherman, and more. Each chapter elaborates the fine points of the job as well as examines the interactions between humans and the work we do. The author writes in a very readable and engaging style while making the reader constantly evaluate how we live on planet earth.

We see both pleasures and sorrows in the working world. Mostly, the reader is left to question how it is we got into the predicament where our working life can be so separated from nature and human needs. The author provides interesting insights into the unusual aspects of many jobs while illuminating the extreme disconnection many experience in the corporation dominated world of today. I highly recommend this book.