The slim novella Shopgirl will utterly change your view of Steve Martin, if you are only familiar with his acting and comedy. Martin is also a fantastic writer, whose pieces appear regularly in The New Yorker and The New York Times.
Shopgirl is a simple story of a young girl working the gloves counter at Nieman Marcus in Beverly Hills, and her romantic life. But Mirabelle is not just a Shopgirl she is an artist, though few ever see the tiny and often dark drawings she produces.
Mirabelle catches the eye of a wealthy, yet much older, businessman and embarks on a relationship that will help both of them discover what they really want out of a romantic partner.
While this may sound like a predictable storyline, Martin is anything but predictable in his telling of it. His writing is flawless and breathtaking, with passages such as this description of the start of one of Mirabelle's anxiety attacks:
"Locked in the darkness of her car, with the wipers set on periodic, she feels uneasy. This night scares her. Then the uneasiness gives way to a momentary and frightening levitation of her mind above her body. She can feel her spirit disconnect from her corporeal self, and her heart starts racing. She had felt its calling card months earlier, this unwelcome visitor in her body, who seemed to fly through her and then was gone. This time it is stronger than before, and it stays longer. It is as though her body is held down by weights and her mind is being methodically disassembled."
And of course, Martin interjects his own dry wit into the novel, in staccato bursts that will delight any reader.
