The news: a user's manual/alain de botton

The News is Alain de Bottons witty and insightful exploration of our twenty-first century obsession with media.

Why do we keep checking the news? Today, the news occupies the same dominant position in our lives as religion once did.

But rarely do we consider how it touches us.

Here, Alain de Botton examines a number of archetypal news stories - a plane crash, a murder, a political scandal, a celebrity interview - from a fresh perspective to ask intriguing questions: why do disaster stories titillate? why obsess over love lives of the famous? why smile when a politician falls from grace? In so doing, he brings clear sight and understanding to a force which, above all others, informs our view of reality.

Like all classic de Botton, there are plenty of insightful observations here, peppered with some psychology, a dash of philosophy, a big dollop of commonsense Scotsman De Bottons gift is to prompt us to think about how we live and how we might change things The Times De Botton analyses modern society with great charm, learning and humour.

His remedies come as a welcome relief when most books offering solutions to the stresses of life recommend the lotus position Daily Mail.