Steve Martin, I would have never pictured him writing a book like this, painting such vivid images into your mind when he describes the most intimate moments of this book. Even though this isn’t the best book put out there it still has some quality to it. He does a good job with making the imagery aspect of it look pretty good. His detail that was incorporated in his imagery was well played out and made for a good scenery whenever the main character got into a conversation or interaction with another character. Steve Martin is a well known actor and to see him making a book like this I think that it is simply showing a more articulate side to him. That may be as far as being “perverted” and being a “guy” goes, but it is still done well where he has intended it to go. This books main theme was about how the satisfaction that you may get in the moment, won’t last a lifetime. So you should find the feeling that lasts a lifetime that can be found in even the simplest moment. That’s what I basically got from this book, sounds crazy but it is true.In this story the main character is looking for affection for a man and tries a few types of men to see if she could find what she was looking for. She experiences different types of relationships throughout the book, but she goes through all the benefits and absence, only to find herself back to the one that she first started with. Throughout this book, Steve Martin gives a lot of scenes that come together to show the overall theme of his book. That being that “You should find the feeling that lasts a lifetime that can be found in even the simplest moment.” He also had a few quotes within the book that express the theme that he is pushing in this book. “Ray Stays in L.A. for three days, sees Mirabelle one more night, calls her twice, hurts her inadvertently one more time, levitates her spirit once, makes love to her again, buys her a watch and a blouse, compliments her hair, gets her a subscription to Vogue, but rarely, maybe twice, kisses her.” This showing that the moments that she spends with her “man” really have nothing but material value to it. Even though she doesn’t realize it at the time, she can still feel the unfulfilled desire that she has been wantingtOverall I think that this book was not a bad piece, especially coming from an actor like Steve Martin. I didn’t think that a comedy actor could pull off or even follow through with writing a story that expresses the feelings of each of the character’s presented in the book. He did a good job with telling his story and explaining the scenario. So once again the idea of this book in my opinion was that: You should find the feeling that lasts a lifetime that can be found in even the simplest moment.
I don't know why, but I almost want to perceive the story of the relationship of Mirabelle and Ray Porter as the author's parable of all relationships between older men and younger women. A shy young woman toils in relative obscurity, unseen and unappreciated by her contemporaries (men and women alike), still emotionally a child waiting to bloom; an older man takes notice of her and is able to appreciate her youth and freshness and need for someone to notice.Of course, there's the sex; but furthermore each fulfills some need of the other - she (this mild Damsel in Distress)brings out his "fatherly" qualities, she makes him feel protective; he satisfies her romantically (at least temporarily), and the fact he's rich doesn't hurt either, as he's able to fulfill some of her everyday financial needs as well. Maybe it's because of these (fatherly/patronizing) feelings Older Man (Ray) has for Younger Woman (Mirabelle) that he inevitably realizes she'll never be what he's really looking for (an equal - socially and emotionally), and it's only upon their separation from each other that she's able to mature emotionally and professionally to become a full adult. Meanwhile, the Younger Man who threw away one chance already with Younger Woman has had time to ripen and can now truly appreciate the qualities she's always had, as well as those she's gained from her experience with the Older Guy; he's now ready for her to lean on him for support, as Older Man watches lovingly and supportively from the background. It'd be kind of rash of me to make assumptions about Steve Martin's personal background, but I really get the idea (perhaps unfounded) that there was a personal philosophy going on behind Shopgirl, and this roughly sketches it out.
What do You think about Shopgirl (2000)?
How can a movie that seemed so horrible and so sad be such an amazing book when the novel and screen play were written by the same person? Shouldn't they be, i don't know.. the same? It just doesn't make sense. Anyway, this was a wonderful book. Yes, it made me cry just as much as the movie did but the book was just so much better. The book leaves you more at peace with the ending. The movie just throws the ending at you and expects you to accept it. Thankfully, my favorite movie line was in the book though it wasn't all together. Steve Martin is an amazing and very vivid author. His style is fantastic. Though his many, many cuss words (which quite shocked me considering the author) I could've lived without. All in all, this novel is a very good read. It's a very moving story that really shows you how love affects the minds of both parties.
—Tina Rae
I read this before I had even heard this was going to be a movie - which is great because I was able to read it without picturing Claire Danes as Mirabella. (I thought she did a very good job in the movie - I just like reading a book and making up my own vision of the characters.)It's a simple little story really - girl is bored in a shop. Older man is taken with the girl and brings her into his life a little. When she wants more than to just be a plaything to him it dissolves. She ends up with
—Jennifer
There are a handful of writers I've come across who've successfully broken the "show, don't tell" rule every writer is taught. Kurt Vonnegut was one, and Steve Martin is another. It'd be hard to imagine Vonnegut in "Breakfast of Champions," for example, giving the reader all the information he wants to convey about Kilgore Trout, Dwayne Hoover and Eliot Rosewater through action and dialogue alone. Similarly, Martin in "Shopgirl," which is almost completely lacking in dialogue, spends most of the novella telling us about Ray Porter, Mirabelle and Jeremy, almost never showing us who they are through their words or actions. Yet, somehow, the book works just fine. In fact, it works better than the film version, which, being a film, was forced to turn much of the telling into showing.One of the book's few failings, though, lies in some of its descriptions of Los Angeles. Martin is fine when sticking to the Los Angeles he knows -- art galleries and celebrity shopping trips, for example -- but when he goes too far afield, his presumably sheltered experience (being a wealthy and successful celebrity) shows. He says, for example, that the only restaurant in Los Angeles open on Thanksgiving Day is a diner in downtown L.A. What restaurant could he be referring to? The Pantry? I assure Mr. Martin that many, many L.A. restaurants are open on Thanksgiving.Nevertheless, who in the 1970s would have predicted that the wild and crazy guy with the fake arrow through his head from "Saturday Night Live" would someday write such a direct, unflinching novel about contemporary male-female sexual relationships?
—Daniel
