2011 Book 60: An Object of Beauty
Book 60: An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin, isbn 9780446573641, 292 pages, Grand Central Publishing, $26.99
The Premise: (from Goodreads) Lacey Yeager is young, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. Groomed at Sotheby's and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness. Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heights - and, at times, the dark lows - of the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.
My Rating: 3 stars
My Thoughts: There are moments in Steve Martin's latest where I'm almost positive he's going to reveal that he's been writing thrillers under the not-so-subtle pen-name Steve Martini all these years. The tension ratchets up, and the reader starts wondering if this is about to become an art heist thriller, or an art-recovery thriller, or really any kind of thriller at all. And then the tension defuses, nothing really happens. Every tense situation Lacey Yeager finds herself in turns out to be something largely mundane; she (and the friend who narrates the novel) seem to yearn for more drama in their lives than there actually is. And maybe that's Martin's point: that most of us will never experience the life of a paperback thriller, and that most of the drama in our lives has some less-than-dramatic outcome, and that we should be content with that.
I have to say that I learned more about the art world than I ever thought I'd know. Lacey Yeager is a capable guide for that. I can't say I walked away from the book feeling like I had to share it immediately with the world (as evidenced by the month it's taken me to write this review) but I was a fine book to listen to on my long work road trips. And Campbell Scott -- good narration, good sense of ennui, and great impersonation of the author. If I closed my eyes (which I didn't do because I was driving), I would have thought Steve Martin was reading.
Bottom line: a decent book, a bit educational, but not my favorite of Martin's work.
The Premise: (from Goodreads) Lacey Yeager is young, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. Groomed at Sotheby's and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness. Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heights - and, at times, the dark lows - of the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.
My Rating: 3 stars
My Thoughts: There are moments in Steve Martin's latest where I'm almost positive he's going to reveal that he's been writing thrillers under the not-so-subtle pen-name Steve Martini all these years. The tension ratchets up, and the reader starts wondering if this is about to become an art heist thriller, or an art-recovery thriller, or really any kind of thriller at all. And then the tension defuses, nothing really happens. Every tense situation Lacey Yeager finds herself in turns out to be something largely mundane; she (and the friend who narrates the novel) seem to yearn for more drama in their lives than there actually is. And maybe that's Martin's point: that most of us will never experience the life of a paperback thriller, and that most of the drama in our lives has some less-than-dramatic outcome, and that we should be content with that.
I have to say that I learned more about the art world than I ever thought I'd know. Lacey Yeager is a capable guide for that. I can't say I walked away from the book feeling like I had to share it immediately with the world (as evidenced by the month it's taken me to write this review) but I was a fine book to listen to on my long work road trips. And Campbell Scott -- good narration, good sense of ennui, and great impersonation of the author. If I closed my eyes (which I didn't do because I was driving), I would have thought Steve Martin was reading.
Bottom line: a decent book, a bit educational, but not my favorite of Martin's work.