Steve Martin's first foray into fiction is as assured as it is surprising. Set in Los Angeles, its fascination with the surreal body fascism of the upper classes feels like the comedian's familiar territory, but the shopgirl of the book's title may surprise his fans. Mirabelle works in the glove department of Neiman's, "selling things that nobody buys any more." Spending her days waiting for customers to appear, Mirabelle "looks like a puppy standing on its hind legs, and the two brown dots of her eyes, set in the china plate of her face, make her seem very cute and noticeable." Lonely and vulnerable, she passes her evenings taking prescription drugs and drawing "dead things," while pursuing an on-off relationship with the hopeless Jeremy, who possesses "a slouch so extreme that he appears to have left his skeleton at home." Then Mr. Ray Porter steps into Mirabelle's life. He is much older, rich, successful, divorced, and selfish, desiring her "without obligation." Complicating the picture is Mirabelle's voracious rival, her fellow Neiman's employee Lisa, who uses sex "for attracting and discarding men."

Released on Friday, March 07, 2003 at Being mailed to a fellow BookCrosser in Vista, California USA.

Enjoy!

Received in trade from Aisho, Thanks :) TBR

As Aisho did a wonderful synopsis of the book I won't duplicate her comments. Reading Shopgirl, it was almost as if I could hear him narrating the story as he did in the movie, Novocaine (not quite as good as his other films but he didn't write it).

Having enjoyed his movies and having flown up to San Francisco to see Steve Martin's play, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" and laughed till my sides hurt (can still vividly see some of the scenes) when I saw this on Aisho's bookshelf, it was a given trade. Note: the play is being turned into a movie so if you missed the live performance, fear not you can catch the screenplay starring Kevin Kline.

Steve Martin, simply put is outstanding in everything he does; if your only encounter with his talent is based on his movie, The Jerk, you will be sorely disappointed and your life robbed of great laughs.

Released on Thursday, April 03, 2003 at Fellow BookCrosser in Everett, Washington USA.

Released in trade to tamarabk via mail

I have read and enjoyed many of Steve Martin's shorter pieces in The New Yorker and I am really looking forward to reading this novella. Thanks vraciousrdr!!

I passed this on to bookcrosser Chisn in my office. She will read it and make a journal entry and then give it back to me so I can do the same.

Received from Tamara a couple of weeks ago. I've only read a little bit so far.

Chris couldn't get into this book so she gave it back to me. I really enjoyed reading it. Martin's prose is intelligent and his narrative is filled with wonderful descriptions of contemporary american culture like this: "The kitchen is the most unused part of the house. Since his divorce, the kitchen has become like a middle-american living room: for display only."
I also enjoyed a brief chapter called "The Conversation" where Ray and Mirabelle have a very open, honest conversation about their relationship in which both parties hear what they want to hear and no information is actually exchanged.
An enjoyable read - hopefully not to be Martin's only foray into the world of fiction.

I will be mailing this to fellow bookcrosser nina-ivanovna in Ithaca, NY- one of my favorite places in the whole wide world!!