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Cast your mind back, if you can, to the internet of the late 2000s, through which blew a fierce blizzard of Stuff White People Like<\/a>\u00a0copycats after copywriter Christian Lander\u2019s satirical blog about \u201cthe Unique Taste of Millions\u201d blew up and produced not one but two<\/a> \u201creal\u201d books. None attained anything like Stuff White People Like\u2019s explosive burst-of-the-blog-book-bubble success, but some of them at least cracked a few good ones in the attempt. Even the English-speaking Korean national behind Stuff Koreans Like<\/a>, a short-lived blog even by these standards, made a few astute observations on his countrymen and their enthusiasm for pictures of food, the Nobel Prize, travel essay books, slapstick, \u201ctaking white people too seriously,\u201d Harvard, and the writer Alain de Botton.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwiss-born English-language essayist Alain de Botton is the sum of what every Korean essay writer consciously or subconsciously aspires to be,\u201d reads the relevant entry<\/a>. \u201cCalm and subtle prose, lightly worn erudition, even attended Harvard at one point. Alain de Botton may very well be the Perfect Modern Korean Essayist.\u201d You can see the evidence of de Botton\u2019s large and ever-growing appeal in this country at every major bookstore, from whose shelves dozens of images of his face look sagaciously out from little paper banners wrapped around translated editions of his many books, like Essays in Love<\/em> (\uc65c \ub098\ub294 \ub108\ub97c \uc0ac\ub791\ud558\ub294\uac00, or \u201cWhy I Love You\u201d), The Consolations of Philosophy <\/em>(\uc80a\uc740 \ubca0\ub974\ud14c\ub974\uc758 \uae30\uc068, or \u201cYoung Werther\u2019s Happiness\u201d), and Status Anxiety <\/em>(\ubd88\uc548, or simply \u201cAnxiety\u201d).<\/p>\n
Just last weekend, the man himself stopped by Seoul to deliver a lecture at Korea University\u2019s grandest hall, whose attendees snapped photos of themselves beside posters bearing his image for hours beforehand. (Though most bought their tickets early, I found some available at the door \u2014 for those who wanted to pay nearly $140 a pair.) Some had registered to attend through Korea University itself, and some through The School of Life Seoul<\/a> (\uc778\uc0dd\ud559\uad50 \uc11c\uc6b8), the local branch of the international educational organization co-founded by and closely associated with de Botton (and here run by writer-entrepreneur Mina Sohn), which offers classes on how to be creative<\/a>, manage stress<\/a>, relate to your family<\/a>, travel like a philosopher<\/a>, and face death<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n