Rating: 
Summary: Not for me
Review: The story itself was okay, but I didn't like how it was written. I'm one of those readers who would prefer to read an actual exchange of words between characters instead of a narrator telling me what they were talking about. This was what had made the book dull to read.
Rating:
Summary: A sad commentary on a sad culture
Review: Martin, who has written humorous pieces in the past, writes a droll script of a girl's sad existence. As we would expect, Martin's keen wit leads to a sharp writing style that is well suited for this short book. However, this girl is not a heroine, she is to be pitied. She obsesses over sex and possessions, an indictment of the world around us. However, Martin doesn't write of her existence as empty -- but we can see it as such. She pines for a longing touch of a caring man, but engages in casual sex as if this will fill her empty life.How many will read this book, feel sorry for Mirabella, then ignore the sad visage in their own mirror? This is not a funny book, despite Martin's humorous ability. This is a crass, even crude (language) book that I would not recommend except for those studying the reasons for our eventual soceital downfall.
Rating: 
Summary: Blackly Funny and So Sad
Review: This was a great book. Steve Martin managed to show us in a very real, poignant way the abyss of loneliness in millionaires as well as shop girls, and did so in a book from which I did not expect depth and pathos, I expected a trifle, but instead got a vivid portrait of LA and of Mirabelle and Ray. This book is infinitely better, smarter, more resonant, and more clever than either The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing or Bridget Jones, two other stories about single-girl loneliness, but which lackÑamong other thingsÑthe oh-so-needed perspective from a man's point of view. Of course, Steve Martin does not feel the modern constraints of careful and limited point of view and with a screenwriter's Tolstoyan approach lets us into the head of any character, major and minor, that comes our way. But because of that, the approach is fresh and pleasing and allows for some of his funniest observations to be made. Despite the fact that the book was funny and wry and Steve Martin's observations so biting, so scathing, the feeling the story left me with was profound sadness for the people who want to connect and can't, in spite of their best intentions. All in all it left an imprint inside me, and that's more than I can say for the last dozen books I've read.
Rating:
Summary: charming, intelligent, short & sweet
Review: I found Shopgirl to be a lovely little book, quietly surprising. I don't understand those who expect it to be hilarious, because Steve Martin is a funny guy -- or others who expect deep revelations. It is a well-written novella with some quiet but witty humor and some good insight and on that level it deserves five stars. The characters are well-rounded and the relationships propel the story.
Rating:
Summary: Lauged Out Loud!
Review: Don't know how long it's been since a book made me laugh out loud, but this one did it. I was pleasantly suprised to find that Steve Martin can really tell a good story. Not just for comedy's sake, but for an amazing display of descriptive talent. Who knew? I would (and will) suggest this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful writing
Review: The beauty of Steve Martin's writing was a surprise. I expected to like the book, I like Steve Martin alot, but I never expected to be so taken with this female character he creates. It's a rare man that can "get it" when writing in a woman's voice. The setting was unique, interesting and charming. I have known so many men like the wealthy older man who wants a playmate, I was tempted to throw this book across the room at times. I loved the squirrely boyfriend and his metamorphis.
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone knows characters like these in real life
Review: This book was easy reading. When I first bought it I thought it was going to be funny because of the author, but I was pleasantly surprised. This book I thought was warm and touching. I felt like I knew the characters personaly. It was as if you got a chance to see inside the thoughts of someone you once cared about and could not understand. I really enjoyed the book, it had humorous sex scenes, down to earth characters with real life problems, and modern-day tragic romances.
Rating:
Summary: Not as funny as you'd like it to be.
Review: As a fan of Steve Martin's sketches in The New Yorker, I was expecting _Shopgirl_ to be of similar ilk - short, light, and wickedly funny. It is light reading - and although there were parts of it that were humorous, the book departs from Martin's traditional humor and presents a much darker, more (almost) farcical picture of love and living in the modern world. In particular, I thought the description of Mirabelle's depression was irrelevant and considered it unlikely that after her unsuccessful relationship with Ray, that she would galvanize her life and move to San Francisco. Martin has not succeeded in fleshing out his characters' emotional lives with much real meaning or comprehension. I found this novel lacking in resolution - Mirabelle's relationship with Ray is never resolved, as are her feelings for him or his for her. The characters don't seem to grow at all, despite the situations that Martin creates for them. The characters simply seem to move. Martin has sacrificed depth for brevity. A very loosely jointed attempt.
Rating:
Summary: An old man's fantasy
Review: Similar to his play, Picasso at the Lapine Agile, Steve Martin believes he knows more about people and their inner psyches than he really does. The heroine is only "beautiful" because she is non threatening and submissive. It seemed as if Martin was implicitly describing his dreamgirl and himself as the oh so complicated Ray Porter. Their relationship is labeled as the older man/younger woman scenario, but age has nothing to do with it. Were the characters more real and three dimensional, this would be a story about two people from separate classes, not age groups. Add the one dimensional characters Lisa, Jeremy, and Mirabelle's parents, the story is wanting and leaves a bad taste in the mouth of anyone hoping to gain some useful insight into the complicated relationships we all sometimes share.
Rating:
Summary: Shop Girl
Review: A quick & easy book that reads well. Throughout the book the main character, Mirabelle, leaves you feeling terribly sorry for her. She is a helpless character, but in such a naive and innocent way. The relationships in the book are quite interesting & leave you wondering if such relationships actually exist. I like the way the characters transform and it is interesting to see what relationships come to fruition and in what form they take on. Definitely recommend.
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