Rating: 
Summary: What just happened?
Review: Are small books sometimes awful because they don't have enough surface area to hold any meaningful print? The plots and characters in this novel are shaky. The binder barely holds this book together. I'm sorry, but it just wasn't all that good...at all. But, that's just my opinion right?...
Rating: 
Summary: I almost died laughing!
Review: I read this whole book outloud to my girlfriend in one seating. The funny parts (which is 3/4 of the book) I had to read with tears running down my cheeks from laughing so hard. Before this I had read Shopgirl, and loved it! But, this one has blown me away, with it's perceptiveness and spontanaity. It's one the best books I've ever read, and the only other one that has made me feel this good is Will Durant's "History of Western Civilization", and I would say this one is allot easier and enjoyable than the latter. What do these books have in common they are all a glimpse into people and their practices. I think this needs to be made into a movie as well as "Shopgirl."Who knew Steve Martin had this kind of writing talent? He has the pure prose of Bukowski with that touch of inspiration that I could not ascribe to any other writer but Steve Martin. Read it and loved it!
Rating: 
Summary: Mature and Perceptive
Review: This is the story of Daniel Pecan Cambridge, his withdrawal from humanity and his return to the great masses. The book is not long, only 163 pages, but I found it both amusing and insightful. Daniel has some psychological problems (pecan...nut....get it?) He can no longer hold down a job or communicate easily with others. He lives an isolated life in Santa Monica, filling his days with obsessive-compulsive rituals. Likeable, gentle, with moments of great insight and others of total cluelessness, he has the fashion sense of Rain Man and the mathematical ability of John Nash. Daniel still finds other people interesting, and his desire to have a relationship with a woman leads him along a path that eventually helps him return to a richer life. This isn't an academically rigorous portrayal of specific mental health issues, but the character of Daniel works very well as a kind of neurotic Everyman. He is close enough that we can understand his world. He's interesting. We like him and cheer him on, for he is not tormented to the extent that we are alienated or repelled. The mathematical patterns and seemingly random rules that he uses to make his life bearable might be superficially amusing, but they serve much the same purpose as conventional social patterns. There is plenty of entertaining social commentary in this story, and more than a token jab at the egocentric who takes too much delight in his or her own company. Things occasionally seem a little glib and there are a few heavy handed moments. The ending, in particular, is glossed over. On the redeeming side, the story is imaginative and quirky, and it sustains enough pace to keep you interested. I also admired the author's skill in gradually moving Daniel into a more functional state as the book progresses. There are one or two moments of striking visual imagery, notably where the child Daniel imagines his father to be mathematically fractured. This writer is a keen observer of human behavior and has a finely developed sense of the absurdities of life. This humour and perceptiveness, combined with a thoughtfulness heavily influenced by undergraduate philosophy, makes for an interesting and unpretentious read that should have a broad appeal. Not as poignant as "Shopgirl", nor as sharply witty as the short stories written for the New Yorker, this quiet novella shows more technical maturity and consistency of style. As a writer of books, Steve Martin has a legitimate voice that is worth listening to.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: This is another work of genius from the great Steve Martin. I loved the fresh pace and quirky style it's written in, along with the incredibly funny and loving main character, Danie Pecan Cambridge. With only 160 something pages it's a quick read but well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Side splittingly funny
Review: I loved this book ! Thoroughly recommend it to anyone in need of cheering up . The protagonist is a complete wacko but hysterically funny. Found the end quite touching . All in all a good read . Look forward to seeing the movie .
Rating:
Summary: Okay, I give...
Review: When I saw this at the book store, I chuckled smugly: Gosh, I wonder how this guy got his book deal, and what unknown author did he push off the shelf with his big name and the publisher's money? And, so, not wanting to put any money in the pocket of a millionaire celebrity 'writer,' I checked it out at the library. Damn! It's so totally brilliant: sad, and real and exquisitely written. A great novel. I'm now purchasing a copy. Damn!
Rating: 
Summary: Martin's hero is a nut, and not just a "Pecan".
Review: I can't say I really enjoyed "The Pleasure of My Company", and much preferred Martin's first work, "Shopgirl". I'm not sure that many people would read this book, if it weren't for the author's fame in comedy. But it is worth a read, particularly if you know someone that has OCD, which generally escalates as people reach the age where they have to begin their own, independent lives. Martin has a light touch with his humor, although he has difficulty with the resolution of his stories, preferring to paint the characters in depth, and then just fade away. Since he can do that in comedy, but not in novels, he is not as successful here. The hero of Steve Martin's new novel (novella? only 163 pages) suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and has a tad of the autistic savant thrown in for good measure. Daniel's somehow ended up living alone in Santa Monica... "Santa Monica, California, where I live, is a perfect town for invalids, homosexuals, show people, and all other formerly peripheral members of society. Average is not the norm here." Living alone, Daniel doesn't have a job anymore, although he used to use his skills as a math wizard at Hewlett-Packard, where he was employed as a business communique encoder. He had to leave that job when he weaned himself off his meds and he could no longer allow himself to create a code whose ultimate end was to be decoded. Now Daniel lives on public assistance, with help from periodic cash infusions from his Granny. There are several wonderful treatises on Daniel's trips to the Rite-Aid, which is "splendidly antiseptic". We suffer through his neuroses every time he steps outside his apartment, in trips which must be planned perfectly, to not upset his equilibrium. Much of his inner voicing is consumed with his attraction to a variety of females who slide in and out of the periphery of his existence. Martin has a writing style that throws out the edge of Daniel's obsessions in a disarming way. "The next morning, I decided to touch every corner of every copying machine at Kinko's...", and he treats his hero gently, with feeling. Somewhat funny, and somewhat poignant, Daniel's life escalates quickly at the end of the book, in an almost too pat fashion, but then, without the happy ending, it would be pointless to explore Daniel's world and walk away unhappy. Recommended with reservations - don't expect it to be wildly funny. If you have or know someone with OCD, it offers a rare insight through humor.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most skillful writers anywhere
Review: "Pleasure" was not only a fun read, but a satisfying one as well. Tightly written, he doesn't lose his way at any point in the story.
As a streak of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder runs through my family's history (though nowhere near as severe as the protagonist's) I can say that Steve Martin described the inner world of those with the disorder clearly; in particular that they aren't dumb or mentally divorced from reality, even if they do act oddly at times. But this isn't a dissection of OCD--it's a funny, interesting and humane story about a life on its edge & a chance at self-redemption. I read it straight through on a Saturday night & slept through Sunday!
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure
Review: "The Pleasure of My Company" is such an amusing book, it is wonder Martin has not written more fiction. I really enjoyed reading Martin's other fiction work "Shipgirl." While this book lacked many of the laugh out loud funny parts of "Shopgirl" it is a more than adequate sequel in the Steve Martin fiction collection.
Daniel Pecan Cambridge is a unique character. He has an irrational fear of curbs, he rarely leaves his apartment except to go to places he is most familiar, he must always have 1125 watts of light, and possesses an assortment of other idiosyncrasies that develop as you read the book. His life is thrown out of whack when he begins leaving his apartment more frequently. While leaving his apartment, he develops two failed romances, becomes a temporary foster father, and wins an essay contest. This is an eventful storyline for a man uncomfortable in leaving his apartment which throws his life into a humorous series of conflicts.
Martin show skill in his writing in "The Pleasure of My Company" with diatribes against such popular cultural icons as the energy drink Red Bull. More importantly, Martin creates a charming and likable character in Daniel Pecan Cambridge. It is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Superstitionmania is a recipe for dull entertainment
Review: The protagonist is a victim of obsessive-compulsive behavior. But that's an awkward term and I wish they'd call it something like "superstition psychosis" or "superstitionmania". Steve made a really dumb mistake to subject his audience to this supernaturally boring subject-matter. At one point the protagonist describes the shopping-mall habitues with the following line: "Their general uniformity was interrupted only by their individual variety." It that's supposed to be some sorta non-sequitur joke, let it be known that it bored me to tears.
FAB QUOTE #1: "The thing I like about Clarissa is that she starts talking immediately, which gives me the opportunity to watch her without saying anything."
FAB QUOTE #2: "The problem was, I was taping my long shot for the CRIME SHOW, in which I was supposedly being interrogated by two cops on the street ... We were given no dialog to say, but we had been asked to spout gibberish while a narrator talked over us. They weren't recording us, they just wanted our mouths to be moving to make it look like we were talking. One 'policeman' way saying: 'I'm talking, I'm talking, I'm moving my mouth, it looks like I'm talking.' And then the other one would say: 'Now I'm talking, I'm moving my mouth like I'm talking.' Then they would say to me: 'Now you talk, just move your mouth.' So I would say: 'I'm talking, I'm talking, I'm talking back to you' and so on."
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