I say "pedagogic" because, as a former philosophy student, I can see where some of this might have come fairly directly from lectures. And I did find some of it slow-going at times, although the careful building of his arguments was persuasive. What lead me to read the book was a radio interview in which Irvine said that the Stoics were not drab, glum folk as are often assumed - they knew how to enjoy life and were particularly good at making the best of any situation. I have found Irvine's final thoughts valuable, although this is not, as he says, a self-help manual. Yet now, when I feel a desire, I remind myself that desires are not designed to lead us to happiness, and try to judge how much my life would be better - how much happier I would be, if at all - if I got what I desire. That's not an easy exercise. You can read more on that in the New York Times Magazine article, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, " published on September 7, 2003.

How rare is it to read a book that is at once intellectually provocative truly original, accessibly and gracefully written, and relevant to everyday life? In "On Desire," William Irvine has done all of that and more. An academic philosopher by training, he's had the courage to write a book about how to live-- something most philosophers wouldn't think of doing. Irvine's subject is the primary impulse that drives and bedevils nearly all of us throughout our lives. We don't spend a lot of time thinking about desire (largely because we're too busy feeling captive to it) but Irvine has looked at it from multiple angles including science, religion, and philosophy,. If unmet desire is a leitmotif in your life (and in whose isn't it?), this book will give you a whole new way of looking at how to tame your impulsive passions without retiring to a cave or renouncing life's pleasures altogether.