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Shopgirl Movie Tie-In |  |
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Shopgirl Movie Tie-In | |
Mirabelle is the "shopgirl" of the title, a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus "selling things that nobody buys anymore . . ."
Mirabelle captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they 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 critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.
作者简介 Steve Martin is a celebrated writer, actor, and performer. His film credits include Father of the Bride, Parenthood, and The Spanish Prisoner, as well as Roxanne, L.A. Story, and Bowfinger, for which he also wrote the screenplays. He's won Emmys for his television writing and two Grammys for comedy albums. In addition to a play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, he has written a bestselling collection of comic pieces, Pure Drivel, and a bestselling novella, Shopgirl. His work appears frequently in the New Yorker and the New York Times. He lives in New York City and Los Angeles.
媒体推荐 "Shopgirl?s pacing is gentle and accomplished, its tone tender-hearted." -- Washington Post
编辑推荐 Amazon.com
Steve Martin's first foray into fiction is as assured as it is surprising. Set in Los Angeles, its fascination with the surreal body fascism of the upper classes feels like the comedian's familiar territory, but the shopgirl of the book's title may surprise his fans. Mirabelle works in the glove department of Neiman's, "selling things that nobody buys any more." Spending her days waiting for customers to appear, Mirabelle "looks like a puppy standing on its hind legs, and the two brown dots of her eyes, set in the china plate of her face, make her seem very cute and noticeable." Lonely and vulnerable, she passes her evenings taking prescription drugs and drawing "dead things," while pursuing an on-off relationship with the hopeless Jeremy, who possesses "a slouch so extreme that he appears to have left his skeleton at home." Then Mr. Ray Porter steps into Mirabelle's life. He is much older, rich, successful, divorced, and selfish, desiring her "without obligation." Complicating the picture is Mirabelle's voracious rival, her fellow Neiman's employee Lisa, who uses sex "for attracting and discarding men."
The mutual incomprehension, psychological damage, and sheer vacuity practiced by all four of Martin's characters sees Shopgirl veer rather uncomfortably between a comedy of manners and a much darker work. There are some startling passages of description and interior monologue, but the characters are often rather hazy types. Martin tries too hard in his attempt to write a psychologically intense novel about West Coast anomie, but Shopgirl is still an enjoyable, if rather light, read. --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
专业书评 From Publishers Weekly
Movie star Martin shone in the comic essays of last year's Pure DrivelAbut can he write serious fiction? His debut novella gives fans a chance to find out. 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 loveAor at least romance and companionshipAwith 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 thatAas in Douglas CouplandAthese 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. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Entertainment Weekly, September 29, 2000
"...Martin's shift from public follies to private frailties registers as courageous and convincing." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2000
"His writing has sometimes been sweet, sometimes biting, occasionally intellectually boastful- but it has always been funny." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
New York Times, October 17,2000
The new book is not what you would expect... with the arch skew of an observer of manners. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From AudioFile
Meet Mirabelle, the shopgirl who sells gloves at Neiman Marcus, and the two loves in her life--"Mr." Ray Porter, an older man who loves women, and Jeremy, a slightly lost young man who is in love with her. Through his fluid, even, relentless reading, Steve Martin tells of the dysfunctional lives of his characters and their lack of connection with each other. Martin uses highly illustrative vocabulary to reveal the psyches of men in their relationships with women. Despite Martin's flawless narration, the story never comes to life for the listener, who becomes as frantically bored as the main character. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Mirabelle, the image of fragile, feminine loveliness, is the shopgirl. She works in the glove department at Neiman's in L.A., where she's come to escape the provincialism of her Vermont hometown. And though she may remind people of Olive Oyl, once the resemblance is noted, many readers also will find a likeness to Chaplin's little tramp, the poor, lonely soul with a heart of gold. But Mirabelle is not just a shopgirl; she spends her nights toiling as an artist. Her specialty is creating a striking image surrounded by a black background. Mirabelle lives with two cats; one is always hiding. She has a few friends, who invariably forget to include her in their social activities, and she can barely claim the interest of Jeremy, an awkward, inexperienced young man without means, whom she met in a laundromat. Then, abruptly and mysteriously, Mr. Ray Porter, a millionaire, comes into her life. They becomes lovers, and that initiates the ire of Mirabelle's antagonist, Lisa Cramer. Cramer's aim in life is to be flawlessly pleasing to men, to which end she has viewed a few "`educational' porno tapes," discussed techniques extensively with other women, and "once attended a class given by Crystal Headly, a down and going sex-film actress." The action moves quickly, yet the narrative takes its time to develop, which is a very skillful bit of writing business. Martin's literary fable of a novella is disarming, particularly for those who come to it expecting the biting, zany humor of Pure Drivel (1998), but it may mark a new direction in a noteworthy writer's career. Bonnie Smothers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
