How Proust Can Change Your Life

De Botton reads In Search of Lost Time as a self-help book, chapter by chapter — how to take your time, how to suffer successfully, how to be a good friend, how to open your eyes.

Why it’s on the list: Named in the “how the world really works” thread. A demonstration that a novel can be read as practical instruction, and the cheapest available route into Proust.

Where I saw it: In Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note, recovered from the reply thread to @SpencrGreenberg asking “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world (or how humanity or society) really works?” (June 5, 2025). The full recovered list lives on A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet).

Connections

• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Alain de Botton — the author.