De Botton’s prose is dry, witty, and circumspect. It is a style that has aged remarkably well since the early 90s. He utilizes diagrams and graphs throughout the text—a feature that translates well to digital formats—charting things like "The fluctuations of my love for Chloe" or "The correlation between self-esteem and the capacity to love."
The book begins with a philosophical look at the sheer probability of meeting someone, exploring the role of chance and fate in romantic encounters.
De Botton draws on a range of philosophical influences, including:
Furthermore, the character of Chloe is somewhat thin. She serves more as a catalyst for the narrator’s philosophizing than a fully realized human being. We see her mostly through the lens of his needs and projections. While this is arguably the point—we only ever see others through our own lens—it can make the emotional stakes feel slightly academic.