Shopgirl

By: Steve Martin

Narrated by: Steve Martin

Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the country's most acclaimed and beloved entertainers, Steve Martin has written a novella that is unexpectedly perceptive about relationships and life. Martin is profoundly wise when it comes to the inner workings of the human heart.

Mirabelle is the "shopgirl" of the title, a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus "Selling things that nobody buys anymore..."

Slightly lost but not 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.

Mirabelle captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they tentatively embark on a relationship, they both struggle to decipher the language of love - with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking. Filled with the kind of witty, discerning observations that have brought Martin critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.

Don't miss Steve Martin, Christopher Buckley, and other humorists discussing their craft at the New Yorker Festival.

©2000 Steve Martin, All Rights Reserved (P)2000 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All Rights Reserved, AUDIOWORKS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Grammy Nominee for Best Spoken Word Album

"Martin's elegant, bleak, desolatingly sad first novella is in every sense his most serious work to date." (The New York Times Book Review)

Steve Martin Has A Dark Side

This was a dark, but well written novella. The main character, Mirabelle, leads a sad and lonely life that is punctuated with bad relationships. Martin really hones in on the dark motivations of the men in Mirabelle's life. Martin's celebrity, however, leaves you wondering if he is merely transcribing his own fantasies - leaving the listener a bit unsettled in their perception of this comedic actor.

Expected More

This was a depressing and disappointing.

I just can't.

Some people shouldn't narrate - even if they are amazing actors / comedians. It doesn't translate well into narration here. I was bored to death and couldn't even get past the first 30 minutes. Sorry, Mr. Martin! I love your acting, but not your voiceover! Maybe I'll try this one in print form.

Not Good

Struggled to empathize or identify with any character. I didn't care. The exposition killed me.

Not what I expected

I was not impressed with this book. It reminded me to much of a high school essay written for english class. It was not what a expected from a comic great like steve martin.

hollywood?

It's been a month since I listened to this book and in that time what cream has risen has spoiled.
My lasting impression is I cared for none of the characters who's lives seem to revolve around sex and confussion. Is this life in Hollywood?
A tale of urban waste.
Listen if you wish, he does read it well.

Stupid Girl

What would have made Shopgirl better?

A better story. A believable story, with believe-able characters.

What was most disappointing about Steve Martin’s story?

Empty characters. I could care less about them.

Did Steve Martin do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Steve is a great actor and reader. He does a good job, and I love to hear his voice.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

NO!

Deeply Depressing

I love Steve Martin. I really do. But this book is so deeply depressing and painful, and his intonation of it is almost a monotone. The narrator’s point of view is arrogant in its detached analysis of the people and their inner workings. I’ve not seen the film, and doubt I will.

So bad that it might be worth a listen.

The book was horrible, but the many passionate love scenes are quite hillarious. I don't think Martin was actually trying to be funny when he wrote and read those scenes, but they really had me rolling. There is often an element of comic relief present when a man attempts to describe a woman's passion, but Martin's efforts are over the top. For you ladies who think that men must be stupid because they only think about one thing but yet still manage to not understand it at all, here's your proof. Listen to this book and go ahead and gloat.

Less than desirable

"Shopgirl" does have its humorous moments, but it's not classic Martin. Rather, it's a darker brand of reality (if one considers LA to be reality). Martin's first full-length fiction book is as fully developed as the premise is original. Martin updates the age-old love triangle consisting, in his tale, of Mirabelle, a lonely young girl in need of true love; Ray Porter, a well-off older man exploring the ways of women; and Jeremy, a young convenient "knight," although he's hardly the shining-armor type.

The title character is Mirabelle, 28, who moved to California with dreams of a "real" life but instead finds herself dependent on a myriad of anti-depressants and working at Neiman Marcus to pay off college loans. Her void in social interaction parallels her life outside of work. A sex-crazed girl in the perfume department seemingly foils Mirabelle at one point, but isn't given enough description or time to develop.

Martin's prose is bland and overly descriptive. He does not provide enough depth or description in character development but goes well beyond when analyzing day-to-day life and characters' appearances and actions. This style occasionally impedes the flow of the story, but overall it enriches the text and forces the reader to pay more attention to one's unconscious observations throughout the daily routine. He accomplishes this with an omniscient narrator and thus lends a unique angle to the story. One technique, which Martin developed well but failed to use often enough, was his original dialogue. Like the great description of Ray's goal of getting into bed without a commitment, and Mirabelle's stereotypical interpretation of that as commitment and love.

The novel is too short to develop more than the superficial plot of love triangle. Martin is clearly new to the genre and his novella leaves something to be desired. But he has the mark of a talented observer, and I hope he will develop this in another work with a less convenient turn of events.