Dating might seem a trivial and relatively inconsequential part of love, but it is in fact key to getting into the kind of relationship that can last and help us flourish. The process we call dating sits on top of some of the largest themes of love: how to know whether or not someone is right for us; how soon to settle and how long to search; how to be at once honest and seductive; how to politely extricate oneself without causing offence. This little book is an indispensable guide to the dating process. It teaches us about the history of dating (and why the way we are dating now is so novel and so perplexing), the reason why our dating days can be so anxious, how we should discuss our past on a date, what questions we might ask a new partner, how to optimise our attempts at dating - and how to digest and overcome so-called ‘bad’ dates. The book is at once heartfelt and perceptive and never minimises the agony, joys and confusions of our dating days and nights. It provides us with the ideal wise roadmap to the varied, sometimes delightful, sometime daunting realities of dating.

アラン・ド・ボトン率いる「スクール・オブ・ライフ」が放つ本作は、デートという行為を単なる社交術ではなく、自己と他者、そして幸福の本質を問う深遠な精神的探求として描き出しています。現代特有の焦燥感や不安を冷徹かつ温かな眼差しで解剖し、なぜ私たちが恋愛の入り口でこれほどまでに苦悩するのかを歴史的・心理的文脈から鮮やかに解き明かす筆致は見事というほかありません。 特筆すべきは、誠実さと誘惑という相反する要素の調和や、過去の開示に伴う痛みを「人間的な成長」へと昇華させる文学的な洞察です。失敗を単なる傷跡に終わらせず、自己を知るための貴いプロセスへと転換させる力強いメッセージは、読者の魂に深く響くでしょう。洗練された知性と情熱が同居するこの一冊は、迷える現代人にとって、愛という迷宮を歩むための至高の羅針盤となるはずです。