I recently read An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin.
An Object of Beauty is the story of Lacey Yeager, a young, attractive, ambitious art history graduate who moves to New York to work in the art world and quickly moves up from a lowly position at Sotheby's to owning her own gallery as New York City heads towards 9/11 when everything changes.
The novel delves into the intricacies of the art scene, something I know very little about, and the book includes several reprints of famous works which are somehow incorporated into the story. I found that all to be very interesting, since I'm more or less ignorant on the subject. However, the storyline was less than compelling for me. I did finish the entire book, but I felt fairly neutral about it once I was finished.
Overall, I'm impressed by Steve Martin's ability to do so many things well at one time, but this just wasn't a great book for me.
3 Comments
I've read both An Object of Beauty and Shopgirl, and looved Shopgirl much more than the other. If you've seen the movie, however, then it's practically line for line. The movie has got some great acting and visuals that the book cannot lend. However, it's a good novella.
i've been meaning to read this, but haven't gotten around to it. i, too, recommend Shopgirl and also his other novella, The Pleasure of My Company, which was great!!
I like my Steve Martin with a banjo!
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