de Botton, here, in my town!

One of my favourite authors, Alain de Botton, is coming to town to promote his latest book, The Architecture of Happiness. He's appearing at the Design Exchange on October 11th to present a lecture and I'll be in the audience to hear him speak.

I love his writing style; I have ever since reading Essays in Love, his first work of fiction which is still my favourite. I've since read all his other fiction and most of his non-fiction and he never fails to impress me with how he is able to weave philosophical concepts effortlessly into an anecdote or story to get his point across. (His lyrical style is akin to Diane Ackerman's.)

I must admit that I'm a bit apprehensive about hearing him speak in person. I love his voice on the written page and I'm worried that it won't translate well in real life. I've been known to re-read favourite books before and I'm concerned that if the real him is disappointing, it will colour my feelings towards his writing going forward.

And that would totally suck because I think he's brilliant...and cute in a bald-geek-chic kind of way, donchathink? I suppose there's nothing to do now but wait and see if the appearance lives up to the reality.