Book #4: Shopgirl

Title: Shopgirl
Author: Steve Martin

"Oh you're reading Shopgirl? I read the first few chapters of that in Barnes and Noble a few years ago and thought it was the worst thing I ever read." My husband peered over my shoulder as we lay in bed reading this morning. It's true that the first few chapters of Shopgirl are a little slow, and I didn't really identify with Mirabelle, a woman whose life has grown small. She works behind the glove counter at Neiman's, and returns home at night to her tiny apartment and two cats. Mirabelle is beautiful and has her needs, and eventually men enter her life. The first, Jeremy, satisfies her body but not her mind, and eventually she meets Ray, an older man who engages her in a no-strings attached relationship. It was interesting to read Shopgirl shortly after reading An Object of Beauty. Mirabelle felt like a quieter, less self-assured version of Lacey, and even though the characters at time felt vacuous, the ending was much more hopeful than Martin's later work. Next up? Renting the movie. I think it's a book that will translate very well to film.