Kiss & Tell
Alain de Botton has crafted a delightfully ingenious novel in the form of a biography of an unknown woman.  Told by a former flame that he lacks empathy, the engaging narrator ofKiss & Telldecides to write a book about the next person he meets. This turns out to be Isabel Rogers, a production assistant at a London  stationery company.  The sincere effort of this would-beBoswellto make this ordinary woman fascinating cause him to fall in love with her, causing a shift in his writing from an  examination of Isabel's life to a minutely-detailed account of his relationship with her.  Alain de Botton's earlier work,The Romantic Movement, garnered praise fromJohn UpdikeandPico Iyer, who called him "aStendhalof the 90's dating scene."--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.