What is the author's tone in How Proust Can Change Your Life ; Not a Novel by Alain de Botton?

De Botton approaches his subject, Marcel Proust, with plenty of tongue-in-cheek fun and humor. He implicitly acknowledges that Proust is, for many, an impenetrable subject, and that tackling In Search of Lost Time is the literary equivalent of climbing Mount Everest. He therefore uses humor and glibness to lower the intimidation factor of Proust, and to make the man and his work more accessible.