Kiss & tell - Alain De Botton

Most biographies feature people who are famous or notorious, no acquaintance of their biographer, and dead. Kiss & Tell is a bold and irreverent challenge to these biographical norms which sets out to chart the life of someone unknown, intimate with their biographer and still alive. The result is a witty and perceptive portrait of a young woman and a highly original and entertaining novel.

'A young writer of highly original intelligence . . . His book is delightful' John Bayley, London Review of Books

'Alain de Botton is the boy wonder of contemporary English literature . . . a brilliantly erudite and amusing wonder' Cressida Connolly, Tatler

'Characteristically engaging . . . Exploring the tragicomedy sparked by our baffling inability to understand one another, de Botton's seductive art is to make us seem like strangers to ourselves' Julian Loose, Sunday Times

'Such a writer could write a biography of a broomstick, as Dr Johnson suggested, and it would come alive under his pen' Philip Glazebrook, Spectator

'Rich, intelligent and finely written . . . the perfect antidote for those suffering from a lack of conviction in their own uniqueness' Paul Sussman, Independent on Sunday