The Romantic Movement Sex, Shopping, and the Novel

Alice is disappointed by men and searching for answers when she meets and embarks on an affair with Eric. Her romantic predicaments and emotional swings give rise to a host of questions. Why is jealousy sometimes a good thing? At what stage can one disagree with a lover's opinion, without giving offense? Must there always be an issue of power between people? And, perhaps most important of all, what is the link between love, sex, and shopping?<br>With a sure feel for women and men, Alain de Botton reveals the lovers' characters; he also provides a chorus of thinkers about love, from Descartes and Rousseau to Plato, D. H. Lawrence, and Aretha Franklin. As Alice begins to evaluate Eric as a prospective mate, her thoughts are amusingly illustrated by a succession of drawings and charts.