Rating: 
Summary: An Engaging, Relaxing Read
Review: The old saying tells us not to judge a book by it's cover, but in the case of "Shopgirl," you can't help but try. The slick, deep-red cover and clean, simple typeface make this book an object of beauty. The pages are printed on a heavy, off-white paper with ragged edges. The book has the aesthetic of a gorgeous, expensive item you'd find in Neiman Marcus where the "shopgirl" of the title works. In the same way that strolling through a shiny, glamorous, and silent department store can be a great escape, a way to get lost in another, simpler world, so is "Shopgirl" a place to slip into a relaxed reverie and watch as the life of a young woman is described simply and prettily, like the clothes of a child who has chosen her outfit for tomorrow and laid it out on a chair. This book is easily digestible. It doesn't tax you with intellectual challenges. It's heartwarming without being sappy. And those who know and love Steve Martin's work as an actor and a playwright will enjoy hearing the lilting intonations of his unique comic voice in their heads as they read. Like a painting created with clean, deliberate brushstrokes, this novel has no sense of chaos, no hair out of place. Whether it is a disciplined study in symmetry and minimalism or a work lacking depth or realism, your guess is as good as mine. I could be convinced of either notion.
Rating: 
Summary: Audio Review - I'm in Love
Review: I think I'm in love with Steve Martin. His reading of this exquisite and touching book was perfect. His sensitive, gentle thoughtful voice just brought this book to life. The book is tender, sweet, funny and I just didn't want it to end. Thank you Steve for the book and your remarkable reading - You are truly a remarkable talent
Rating:
Summary: Audio Review
Review: Without histrionics but with a clear reflection of emotion, Steve Martin is the perfect reader for his novella, Shopgirl. While the tale is not new, the telling, by both Steve Martin's pen and voice, is both relaxing and compelling at the same time. As you follow the love story between Mirabella and her wealthy amour, even though the end of the affair is projected in the beginning, you keep hoping that the author, reaching back to his comic self, is going to take you by surprise with a twist in the end. Somehow, he does. Cassette version needs frequent rewinding to hear pithy but sweet observations, again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Shop Girl
Review: I loved this book! I normally don't like to read due to the fact that most books don't keep me interested. This one not only kept my attention it left me wanting more! Well written and fun! I highly reccommend it!
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Summary: Long Live Steve Martin and His Poignant Pen
Review: Those of you expecting Steve Martin's latest to be wild and crazy will be missing the point of this tender love story. In writing of Mirabelle, Jeremy Tyler, Ray Porter, and the other characters in this book, Martin has constructed a fable of life and love in our times, one that speaks to everyone. Mirabelle's working at the glove counter at Neiman's and her life just beyond is the perfect blank canvas for this writer to show how she and Ray Porter are transformed through her innate need for love and her basic tenderness. It is these qualities that run through the heart of this tale...not that there aren't any humorous moments! Martin injects the story with the turns of phrases and keen observations seen previously in Pure Drivel, his collected essays, only here they are woven into the story with a certain deftness: many situations in the book have been mined for their underlying humor, which is presented simultaneously with the earnest thoughts and actions of the characters. If this book doesn't put Steve Martin on the cultural map as an honest-to-God writer, I don't know what will...maybe if he takes on Shakespeare next!
Rating:
Summary: Engaging
Review: Engaging, and thoroughly absorbing. By an author I did not expect to take seriously. Yes the characters and storyline could have been more developed. But then the book would have been longer. This is what i would consider to be a little Gem. It is not a diamond. So its rather rapid conclusion leaves you wanting more, and that is a gift!
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Summary: Excellent entertainment from Steve Martin...
Review: I'm a huge Steve Martin fan - his movies, his New Yorker pieces, everything - but I was still a rather tough sell for his foray into fiction with Shopgirl. I must admit that I'm now an even bigger fan than I was before, as I found this novella to be warm, intelligent, honest, entertaining... basically terrific. The 'shopgirl' of the title sells gloves - not the practical gardening kind - at Neiman Marcus in Los Angeles. A low-wage worker and artist by avocation, she leads a quiet life with few friends until Ray, a millionaire businessman, takes a fancy to her and a strange relationship ensues. The readers view the romance from both sides, Ray's perception differing quite dramatically from Mirabelle's, and watch as Mirabelle, particularly, changes and emerges a different person by the end. As a novella, the exposition and details move much more quickly than in a longer work, and it was in this that I found Martin to be such a great fiction writer - what he chose to say was so expressive, so evocative, that it was as easy for me to envision the world he created as if he'd spent pages upon pages describing it. Another of the many things (way too many to enumerate here) that I loved about this book - and that so impressed me - was how he conveyed the awkwardness of life and relationships and the way that seem so clear to one person are much less so to another. While I found myself disappointed when the story ended, I think that the medium was perfect for the story - Mirabelle feels so slight and insignificant that a novella is perfect for her. It certainly is a rewarding read and it left me hoping that Steve Martin plans many more novellas or novels or anything, really. I recommend Shopgirl most highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Four Stars and Two Thumbs Up
Review: I enjoyed "Shopgirl" despite some grammatical issues (switching tenses) and a bit too much of an explanation of the obvious towards the end. I found myself saying, "I GET it, Steve."
Overall, "Shopgirl" is a wonderfully detailed novella which mixes comedy with a sense of melancholy. It's a quick-read that will hold your interest. Martin does a great job of allowing the reader to feel and understand the characters. You'll want to reach out, hold Mirabelle's hand, and be her friend for life!
Rating:
Summary: Sly but tepid comedy of manners
Review: I have been very impressed in recent years by Steve Martin's contributions in the New Yorker. They are sly and funny and over the course of two or so pages they build to a sardonic conclusion that effectively skewers his chosen target. At times, in Shopgirl, he seems motivated by similar satirical goals. He has trouble with Los Angeles and does much to undo the pretense without being didactic or overweening. But the satire never builds and largely dissipates by the story's conclusion. The story faces similar obstacles. The two lead characters, well meaning both, are shy and hesitant (and as such easy to identify with), but we can neither love them or hate them. Mirabelle's mistakes come as much from her own vacuity as the shallowness of the world, and her ultimate rehabilitation goes no deeper than the self-help books that guide her prospective beau. Ray's appetites are no less shallow or easily satisfied, and his preoccupations altogether as banal and self-involved as Mirabelle's, if not morally worse. It is not that these are loathsome characters, in fact we can see ourselves too easily in them. They simple don't draw us in. Martin is fascinated by the awkward moments in conversations, and yet apparently bored by any other. His characters fumble for what to say in a world where any response is either a cliche (and hence dull) or truthful (and hence dull and hurtful). Despite these complaints, there is certainly nothing in this work that suggests that Martin is not a capable and interesting writer. There are many valuable and interesting observations of modern life in this book -- often bluntly but accurately drawn. However, a better example, I think, of the kind of book he wants to write might be Nick Hornby's High Fidelity or About a Boy, both of which take on the kinds of relationship issues Martin is concerned with but strike a better balance between the selfishness of the characters and comedic or satirical elements of the book. I
Rating:
Summary: Demonstrates Steve Martin's versatility
Review: This surprising little book shows another side of comedian Steve Martin's talents. It centers on Mirabelle, the shopgirl of the title,who works at Neiman Marcus in the glove department. She leads a somewhat aimless life, not aspiring to promotions or more responsibility but getting through her days by popping anti-depressants and sharing a few nights out with a couple of unreliable girlfriends who occasionally stand her up. She goes out with Jeremy, a hopeless fellow, who usually asks her to pay for her part in their dates. Then into her life comes a wealthy older man who is still feeling his way in the dating world at age 50 and who is too superficial for words. She accepts what he has to offer, but desires more emotional closeness than he is capable of giving. Martin writes with uncanny insight into his characters and hopefully he will write some full-length novels in the future.
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