Search - Shopgirl

Shopgirl
Larger
Shopgirl
Author: Steve Martin

Book Information
Publisher: Theia
Book Type: Hardcover
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780786866588 - ISBN-10: 0786866586
Publication Date: 9/2000
Pages: 144


Other Versions of this Book: Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio CD (Unabridged), Paperback, Hardcover

Book Description:
The shopgirl is Mirabelle, a beautiful aspiring artist who pays the rent by selling gloves at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus. She captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy, lonely businessman. As Ray and Mirabelle 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 Steve Martin incredible critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.

Members who requested this book also requested:

Similar books to this author and title:
Cruel ShoesThe Pleasure of My Company: A NovelPure DrivelThe Underpants : A Play by Carl Sternheim


Genres:

Top Member Book Reviews

Kate J. wrote on 7/6/2006...

2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Steve Martin is a true Renaissance man. Readers expecting to find "Wild and Crazy Guy!" type humor in this text need not bother. Thoughtfully written, this melancholy novella is the perfect study of many May/December relationships, as well as the differences in the communications styles of men and women. I found it to be heartbreaking and beautiful.

Barbara (femmefan) wrote on 3/30/2009...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Steve Martin's wry yet sympathetic prose makes Mirabelle come alive, and she is by turns confused, cold, loving, naive, and wise. No idealized romance here, but a charming and insightful slice-of-life tale.

Liese S. (bookaddict) wrote on 11/19/2005...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Entertaining, but indifferently written. Martin is much funnier in other formats.

Leger W. wrote on 6/21/2005...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

One of our country's most acclaimed and beloved entertainers, Steve Martin is quickly becoming recognized as a "gorgeous writer capable of being at once melancholy and tart, achingly innocent and astoningly ironic (elle). Beautifully written, this novella reveals a different side of Martin, one that is unexpectly perceptive about relationships and life and profoundly wise when it comes to the inner workings of the human heart. This book is about a "shop girl" - a young woman, beautiful wallflower ish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus selling things that nobody buys anymore....Slightly lost, slightly off kilter, very shy, Mirabelle charms becaus of all that she is not , not glamorous, not aggressive, not self aggrandizing. Still there is something about her that is irrestible. Mirabelle captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they tentatively embark on a relationship, the both struggle to decipher the language of love - with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking.

Karen U. (editorgrrl) wrote on 2/21/2005...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

From Publishers Weekly
Shy, depressed, young, lonely and usually broke, Vermont-bred Mirabelle Butterfield sells gloves at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus (nobody ever buys); at night, she watches TV with her two cats. Martin's slight plot follows Mirabelle's search for love--or at least romance and companionship--with middle-aged Ray Porter, a womanizing Seattle millionaire who may, or may not, have hidden redeeming qualities. Also in and out of Mirabelle's life are a handful of supporting characters, all of them lonely and alienated, too. There's her father, a dysfunctional Vietnam vet; the laconic, unambitious Jeremy; and Mirabelle's promiscuous, body-obsessed co-worker Lisa. Detractors may call Martin's plot predictable, his characters stereotypes. Admirers may answer that--as in Douglas Coupland--these aren't stereotypes but modern archetypes, whose lives must be streamlined if they are to represent ours. Except for its love-hate relations with L.A., little about this book sounds much like Martin; its anxious, sometimes flat prose style can be affecting or disorienting, and belongs somewhere between Coupland and literary chroniclers of depression like Lydia Davis. Martin's first novel is finally neither a triumph nor a disaster: it's yet another of this intelligent performer's attempts to expand his range, and those who will buy it for the name on the cover could do a lot worse.

People
"Shopgirl is an Audrey Hepburn of a book: slim, lovely, and ever so old-fashioned."

Trivia: Made into a 2004 romantic comedy starring Claire Danes, Steve Martin, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Schwartzman, and Frances Conroy.


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Jennifer N. wrote on 12/4/2008...


I like this book a lot.

Joy S. (Slim) wrote on 4/10/2007...


From front leaf: Steve Martin, (yes, that Steve Martin), writes about a May-December romance that is comic and heart-breaking.

Tamela R. wrote on 2/11/2007...


Great melancholy tale from a comic genius!

Shirley B. wrote on 10/22/2006...


witty fast reader. fun.

Molly K. wrote on 7/24/2006...


I enjoyed reading this book!

Daniel T. (bookemdanno) wrote on 11/22/2005...


The novel on which the recent Steve Martin/Claire Danes movie was based. Wry and amusing and a little sad.


Book Wiki
Common Title
Series
Original Publication Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
People/Characters
Mirabelle (Primary Character)
Mr. Ray Porter (Primary Character)
Jeremy (Major Character)
Fictional Places
Important Events
Awards and Honors