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." The mutual incomprehension, psychological damage, and sheer vacuity practiced by all four of Martin's characters sees Shopgirl veer rather uncomfortably between a comedy of manners and a much darker work. There are some startling passages of description and interior monologue, but the characters are often rather hazy types. Martin tries too hard in his attempt to write a psychologically intense novel about West Coast anomie, but Shopgirl is still an enjoyable, if rather light, read. --Jerry Brotton
Book Description
Steve Martin's first foray into fiction is as assured as it issurprising. Set in Los Angeles, its fascination with the surreal body fascism ofthe upper classes feels like the comedian's familiar territory, but the shopgirlof the book's title may surprise his fans. Mirabelle works in the glovedepartment of Neiman's, "selling things that nobody buys any more." Spending herdays waiting for customers to appear, Mirabelle "looks like a puppy standing onits hind legs, and the two brown dots of her eyes, set in the china plate of herface, make her seem very cute and noticeable." Lonely and vulnerable, she passesher evenings taking prescription drugs and drawing "dead things," while pursuingan on-off relationship with the hopeless Jeremy, who possesses "a slouch soextreme that he appears to have left his skeleton at home." Then Mr. Ray Portersteps into Mirabelle's life. He is much older, rich, successful, divorced, andselfish, desiring her "without obligation." Complicating the picture isMirabelle's voracious rival, her fellow Neiman's employee Lisa, who uses sex"for attracting and discarding men." The mutual incomprehension, psychological damage, and sheer vacuity practiced byall four of Martin's characters sees Shopgirl veer rather uncomfortablybetween a comedy of manners and a much darker work. There are some startlingpassages of description and interior monologue, but the characters are oftenrather hazy types. Martin tries too hard in his attempt to write apsychologically intense novel about West Coast anomie, but Shopgirl isstill an enjoyable, if rather light, read. --Jerry Brotton
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A bestselling novella about the love life of a shopgirl who works at the Neiman Marcus glove counter, written by one of our country's most acclaimed and beloved entertainers. Mirabelle, the shopgirl of the title, is a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way. Slightly lost, slightly off-kilter, very shy, Mirabelle charms because of all that she is not: not glamorous, not aggressive, not self-aggrandizing. Still, there is something about her that is irresistible. Beautifully written, this novella reveals a different side of Martin, one that is unexpectedly perceptive about relationships and profoundly wise when it comes to the workings of the human heart. It is the work of a "gorgeous writer capable of being at once melancholy and tart, achingly innocent and astonishingly ironic" --Elle
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