I agree slightly with Hanson's points, but his tone is really off and I think he is slightly uncharitable to the book. It is firmly a pop-philosophy book, but Hanson treats it like it should have been a technical bit of social economics. Sigh. The philosopher's last name is "de Botton," but Hanson refers to him everywhere as "Botton" (excepting one unfortunate typo in the third paragraph). At the end of the review, Hanson decides to make some snide remarks at de Botton's expense, which could have been dispensed without any loss.
Neglecting these points empties the review of most of its content.
Alain de Botton speaks about Status Anxiety
There is nowhere where I've witnessed (and felt) more status anxiety expressed and talked about than in Lesswrong. I tried to partly dispel the mith at least as it regards sexuality.
People talk about status in all its forms and shapes a lot here. Which made me wonder, what do you think of Alain de Botton's opinions on "status addiction" in western societies?