On Love: A Novel [Paperback]

On Loveis globally bestselling novelist-philosopher Alain De Botton’s iconic debut—the novel that launched his decorated literary career; and a funny, profound, and searingly true-to-life exploration of love.

A man and a woman meet over casual conversation on a flight from Paris to London, and so begins a love story—from fist kiss to first argument, elation to heartbreak, and everything in between. Each stage of the relationship is illuminated with starling clarity, as de Botton explores emotions often felt but rarely understood. Now, in tandem with the arrival ofThe Course of Love—de Botton’s first novel in twenty years and one about mature love—we celebrate the timeless debut about young love that serves asThe Course of Love’s precursor and companion.

Reissued with a brilliant introduction by theNew York Timesbestselling author ofHow Should a Person Be?, Shelia Heti,On Loveis a contemporary classic that should be read by anyone who has ever fallen in love.

“Smart and ironic . . . The book’s success has much to do with its beautifully modeled sentences, its wry humor, and its unwavering deadpan respect for the reader's intelligence . . . full of keen observation and flashes of genuine lyricism, acuity and depth.” —Francine Prose,New Republic

“Imagine, of all impossible things, a young British Woody Allen with the benefit of a classical education and you have the nameless and exquisitely erudite narrator ofOn Love, a first novel by Alain de Botton, who seems to have been born to write.” —Amanda Heller,Boston Globe

“An intricate deconstruction of a love affair done in an intellectual, Seinfeldian style . . . The commentary hits the nail on the head.” —Amy Sohn,The Week

“Witty, funny, sophisticated, neatly tied up, and full of wise anlÓ+