Product Description

Mirabelle works as a shop assistant in the glove department at Niemans, LA's finest store; she also draws darkly gothic pictures at night. Adrift in the world and lonely, her situation is not improved by the fact that hardly anyone buys the kind of gloves that Niemans sell, so she spends most of her day leaning on the counter staring into empty space. There are two men in her life - Jeremy, a man who stencils amplifiers for a living, and Mr Ray Porter, an older man and millionaire who applies logic to relationships, and is serially confused and disappointed. In this exquisitely self-contained novel, Steve Martin touches on the surface horrors of LA - the false noses, lips, breasts and people - without exaggeration or explicitly playing for laughs. It's insightful, dark, funny and tender.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #615421 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
'Is there no end to Steve Martin's talents? ... he has shown himself in recent years to be an accomplished writer, not least with this slickly written short novel... Martin's writing has real charm.' (Christina Koning THE TIMES )

About the Author
Steve Martin is a successful actor and writer.

Customer Reviews

A tender and darkly humourous love story
Steve Martin's small but perfectly formed novel makes the very ordinary seem interesting. The story follows the ups and downs of shopgirl Mirabelle's romantic life, exposing her loneliness despite having two men in her life.

While she struggles to find the right antidepressants, and to pay the rent for her viewless apartment on a meagre salary, Mirabelle finds herself falling in love with a rich older man who seems to offer the answers to a lot of her problems. Having someone to look after her immediately makes the world a brighter place - but Mirabelle isn't prepared for the confusion to come. 'Shopgirl' is a tender and darkly humourous love story tracking the pain caused by misunderstanding. I gulped it down in one sitting and will be looking out for Steve Martin's other books.

A Flaubert for our times
A sensitive, moving story and the writing is touching, but also witty and sometimes razor-sharp. I cannot recommend it enough. Please give it a try.

PS I couldn't stand Steve Martin the actor before I read this, so I was negatively biased to start with... I am amazed at the high quality of his writing.