Shopgirl: A Novella

I'm a huge Steve Martin fan - his movies, his New Yorker pieces, everything - but I was still a rather tough sell for his foray into fiction with Shopgirl. I must admit that I'm now an even bigger fan than I was before, as I found this novella to be warm, intelligent, honest, entertaining... basically terrific.The 'shopgirl' of the title sells gloves - not the practical gardening kind - at Neiman Marcus in Los Angeles. A low-wage worker and artist by avocation, she leads a quiet life with few friends until Ray, a millionaire businessman, takes a fancy to her and a strange relationship ensues. The readers view the romance from both sides, Ray's perception differing quite dramatically from Mirabelle's, and watch as Mirabelle, particularly, changes and emerges a different person by the end.As a novella, the exposition and details move much more quickly than in a longer work, and it was in this that I found Martin to be such a great fiction writer - what he chose to say was so expressive, so evocative, that it was as easy for me to envision the world he created as if he'd spent pages upon pages describing it. Another of the many things (way too many to enumerate here) that I loved about this book - and that so impressed me - was how he conveyed the awkwardness of life and relationships and the way that seem so clear to one person are much less so to another.While I found myself disappointed when the story ended, I think that the medium was perfect for the story - Mirabelle feels so slight and insignificant that a novella is perfect for her. It certainly is a rewarding read and it left me hoping that Steve Martin plans many more novellas or novels or anything, really. I recommend Shopgirl most highly.

If you're looking for another helping of the zany humor for which Steve Martin is best known, don't buy this book. It is most definitley not a knee-slapper and might not even make you laugh out loud. It's just not that kind of a book. What it IS is an elegant, wryly humorous character sketch.Steve Martin is a talented, observant writer who takes what might in other hands be a banal storyline and crafts it into a marvelous sort of literary still-life. There is no plot to speak of; the beauty of this novella lies in its descriptions and clever turns of phrase.The book revolves around the largely unexceptional love life of Mirabelle, a shy, depression-prone sales clerk with an artistic flair and difficulty relating to her world. Her paramour, Ray Porter, is an emotionally-challenged older businessman who is unapologetically selfish. Two minor characters provide most of the comic relief: Lisa, a cunning, modern tart who takes Mirabelle's modest success in love as a personal challenge, and Jeremy, a confused Gen X'er who undergoes an improbable transformation. The funniest parts of the book are Martin's description of Lisa's sexual plotting, especially her unusual attention to, shall we say, personal hygiene.Martin writes with both empathy and humor but never overdoes it and never overreaches. He seems to understand that understatement is one of the most powerful of literary techniques. Some might say that this is a trifle of a book. Maybe so, but it is a delicious morsel all the same.

Steve Martin's writing, choice of words, descriptions, and inner dialogues just blew me away! What a guy! Within the first three pages, I felt Mirabelle's desolation and loneliness. Just the title: Shopgirl. So old fashioned --no "sales associate" or other fancy title. The reader immediately got a sense of the hand-to-mouth existence Mirabelle was leading due to this almost dead-end, low-paying job at Nieman Marcus. I was touched by the sentence about the one thing she really wanted: "someone to talk to". Later in the book, Martin made her paralyzing depression so very real to me that I could feel her desperation and clearly imagine her hitting bottom, emotionally.Here's a *Martinism* I loved...he calls Beverly Boulevard a "chameleon street". Very clever choice of words. Here's another: "One man stands in the kitchen of a two-million dollar house that overlooks the city, and the other in a one-room garage apartment that the city overlooked."Mirabelle's relationship with the elusive and wealthy Ray Porter is played out in this short but ultimately satisfying novel, proving that a good author can tell a complete story in only 130 pages. Mirabelle and Ray dance around each other, both misinterpreting the nuances of the relationship. While I felt sorry for Mirabelle and her less-than-ideal life, I also felt sorry for Ray. He was the real proof of the cliche that "money cannot buy happiness."I would highly recommend this book. If you have any chance to read or listen to any of Martin's interviews, they will enhance your enjoyment.

This will be brief, unpolished and not a summary. Shopgirl was a beautifully ironic tale that demostrates Steve Martin's wisdom through brilliant writing. A Spanish Professor of mine once described Borges' writing as "brutal," and Steve Martin's Shopgirl is just that. He exposes Mirabelle and Ray's flaws with tender affection, but without mercy. From the moment I entered his fictional reality I felt absorbed into Mirabelle's world. It is Martin's focus on the meaningful details of daily life that express her melancholy but kind nature. I felt equally absorbed by Ray Porter, his logic and sensuality, yet lack of understanding. Martin succeeds in capturing the conscious, as well as unconscious, motivations for all his characters. He interweaves the events with an intricate look at the personal transformation each undergoes. Frankly, I better understand some of the men who have left their mark on my life because of Martin's cunning insights into the hearts and subconscious minds of both genders.The most compelling and central part of Shopgirl was "The Conversation." Ray understands that Mirabella will soon be his sexual conquest, but "because of Ray's fairness doctrine: before the clothes come off, speeches must be made... "The conversation consists of one involved party telling another involved party the limits of their interest. It is meant to be a warning to the second party that they may come only so close." The misunderstandings he so expertly highlights as the conversation unfolds are gender based and have beautifully messy consequences. Ray Porter thinks he has been clear, direct and expressed his desire to be nobody's boyfriend. Mirabelle feels that he is "bordering on falling in love with her...that after he cuts down on traveling, they will see if they should get married or just go steady." The scene reads like a film, and it is this visual quality that pervades and adds beauty to this ironic and sensitive story. Right from the start I knew I'd love this book, because I dreaded it ending. I enjoyed every morsel of Shopgirl.