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Product Description
Review
"De Botton's most imaginative work yet"
— The Spectator.
"Funny, charming and slender enough to pack in your carry-on."
— Daily Mail
"His observations on airport life are wry and thought-provoking . . . excellent."
— Telegraph
"Shrewd, perceptive and gently ironic . . . At de Botton's T5, banality and sublimity circle in a perpetual holding pattern."
— Independent
— The Spectator.
"Funny, charming and slender enough to pack in your carry-on."
— Daily Mail
"His observations on airport life are wry and thought-provoking . . . excellent."
— Telegraph
"Shrewd, perceptive and gently ironic . . . At de Botton's T5, banality and sublimity circle in a perpetual holding pattern."
— Independent
Product Description
The bestselling author of The Architecture of Happiness and The Art of Travel spends a week at an airport in a wittily intriguing meditation on the "non-place" that he believes is the centre of our civilization.
In the summer of 2009, Alain de Botton was invited by the owners of Heathrow airport to become their first ever writer-in-residence. Given unprecedented, unrestricted access to wander around one of the world's busiest airports, he met travellers from all over the globe, and spoke with everyone from baggage handlers to pilots, and senior executives to the airport chaplain. Based on these conversations he has produced this extraordinary meditation on the nature of travel, work, relationships, and our daily lives. Working with the renowned documentary photographer Richard Baker, he explores the magical and the mundane, and the interactions of travellers and workers all over this familiar but mysterious "non-place," which by definition we are eager to leave. Taking the reader through departures, "air-side," and the arrivals hall, de Botton shows with his usual combination of wit and wisdom that spending time in an airport can be more revealing than we might think.
In the summer of 2009, Alain de Botton was invited by the owners of Heathrow airport to become their first ever writer-in-residence. Given unprecedented, unrestricted access to wander around one of the world's busiest airports, he met travellers from all over the globe, and spoke with everyone from baggage handlers to pilots, and senior executives to the airport chaplain. Based on these conversations he has produced this extraordinary meditation on the nature of travel, work, relationships, and our daily lives. Working with the renowned documentary photographer Richard Baker, he explores the magical and the mundane, and the interactions of travellers and workers all over this familiar but mysterious "non-place," which by definition we are eager to leave. Taking the reader through departures, "air-side," and the arrivals hall, de Botton shows with his usual combination of wit and wisdom that spending time in an airport can be more revealing than we might think.
Inside This Book
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very simple yet very funny,
By
This review is from: A Week at the Airport (Paperback)
Whether you are already a fan of Alain de Botton or haven't yet read any of his works, this little book is a great addition to any library. The author manages to write poetically on a topic most of us never stop to contemplate. Very philosophical ideas, unique outlooks, and even humorous. I recommend it!
3.0 out of 5 stars
Why?,
This review is from: A Week at the Airport (Paperback)
Alain de Botton writes well and brings an extensive knowledge of travel to bear on the subject, but ... I found myself wondering why the subject needed a book written about it.Every traveling writer I know spends boring hours in airports, and we all while away the hours of waiting by journaling. We all struggle to amuse ourselves by observing and reflecting on what we see in the airport. That is what de Botton has done, and the book is as good or bad as our journal pages written in airports. It is not painful to read, but it is not an important book either.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.1 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews) 22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant!,
By Alison "girlrunning" - Published on Amazon.com
This is my first experience of Alain de Botton's writing and after devouring this book in less than 2 hours (partly due to it's brevity and partly because I enjoyed it so much) I'll be looking to read more of his work.I'm probably a little unusual in that I love airports and attempt to arrive much earlier than is really necessary so I can get airside as soon as possible and begin to immerse myself in the world of the terminal. I've never been to terminal 5 but the world that de Botton describes could be any large airport terminal; it feels very familiar. I loved de Botton's perceptive writing and his incisive and insightful look at the lifeblood of the airport. The book is funny, interesting and very engaging. He meets a variety of people and captures their essence in a few short words; impressive observational writing. The photographs by Richard Baker make the book and it wouldn't be as good or feel as complete without them. This little book is thoroughly enjoyable for the high quality writing and high quality photography. It's one of my favourite books read this year and I'll be getting The Art of Travel soon! 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Craftsmanship,
By J. Brian Watkins - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Week at the Airport (Vintage International Original) (Paperback)
I have long lamented that Mr. De Botton's publishers can't seem motivated enough to provide color illustrations. I would gladly repurchase a new edition of The Architecture of Happiness, among others, if the illustrations could be redone to the quality of those in A Week at the Airport. Now, having established myself as a reader who likes pretty pictures, I will go on record to say that if Mr. De Botton were responsible for a picture-free user's manual of some piece of software in painfully tiny print, I would still purchase it and read it cover to cover.This man has something worthwhile to say and a piercing intellect with which to say it. The executive who chose him to profile the airport should be promoted. Fine writing is like a journey and as Mr. De Botton has taught us, travel is an art. Obviously the author leaves traces of his biases and interests in any work and reading this work only serves to increase my envy of those travelers who, having encountered the man at the table, were able to engage him in a two-sided conversation. However, a one-sided conversation with this author quite suffices. Lest your powers of perception be dim, this is a book about an airport--nothing more, nothing less. We need, sometimes, to be reminded of the successes of our culture and the example of a Ghanian family leaving London with a prized new possession sums it up nicely. The airport may contain a posh and comfortable retreat for the wealthy, but as a whole represents the strivings of an entire civilization to explore and do business to the limits of the globe itself. An airport is an enterprise worth describing and this book does credit to the concept of turning a trained observer loose on what may otherwise escape our attention. Highest Recommendation 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"A Week at the Airport" is more compelling than flight itself.,
By Helen Gallagher - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Week at the Airport (Vintage International Original) (Paperback)
If you've ever imagined where the airport departures timetable might take you, Alain de Botton shares your travel lust. The author was fortunate to receive an assignment to set up a desk at the new Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport for a week, and write about his observations. It is our good fortune to observe his week, and enjoy the unprecedented access he shares with us in "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary."His assignment as Writer in Residence gave him full privileges to wander the airport, night and day, and he doesn't miss a thing from security, loneliness, behind-the-scenes workers, and mechanical marvels. de Botton writes with a conversational tone as though he is thinking aloud, as in his other books, and he invites us in to look into the lives of travelers. I look forward to seeing the airport through de Botton's eyes the next time I pack a bag and travel. And, with great anticipation, I will also await Alain de Botton's next book, wherever the world takes him. Helen Gallagher Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way |
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