The Pleasure of My Company: A Novel

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."

Rating:
Summary: Martin's Writings Always a "Pleasure"
Review: I'd actually rate this three-and-a-quarter stars, which I know is getting a little excessive in the specificity department, but three doesn't do the craft justice while 3.5 indicates a level of enjoyment and involvement that wasn't quite there. The OCD-riddled protagonist, Daniel Pecan Cambridge, comes off fairly creepy at first, but Martin artfully turns the reader around in an almost imperceptible transition. Daniel's awareness of the ridiculousness of his limitations -- as well as those of others -- and his eloquent, non-judgmental articulation of such soon makes him relatively winsome. A reviewer quoted on the jacket calls Martin's writing "wryly omniscient and ruthlessly truthful" -- that's exactly what I thought (without having hit upon that perfect phrase) when reading "Shopgirl" (actually what that reviewer was referring to), and that incredibly perceptive yet unselfconscious perspective comes out moreso about halfway in -- likely intentionally for a more meaningful character arc. I would clarify that "ruthless" is more in the unflinching directness than in the intent.

Rating:
Summary: The Pleasure Is Ours!
Review: Excellent Read. I loved it so much more than "Shopgirl". The main character is a riot and his mis-adventures just make you root for him.

Rating:
Summary: I had boogers coming out of my nose...
Review: ...the level of hysterity could only be measured in some new abstract scale.

I was troubled at first by all the references to secretly administering prescription medication until I recognized this as a metaphor for the current political climate.

My favorite part is where the protaginist, or is he the antagonist?, competes against himself in a contest, the inherent dualism in this process seemed likely to disintegrate and then reintegrate, like Jimmy Nuetron's dog Goddard playing dead, until we found ourselves lying satisfied at the end of the book whole again.

Rating:
Summary: funny and likeable, though truly pathetic character
Review: I was really rooting for this guy who struggled with maneuvering his way through life, relationships, and everything else. Steve Martin has a great sense of humor, and he captured a lot of the hilarity that goes along with mental issues. If you can't laugh, you'll cry. This book is not terribly memorable in the long run, but it was very enjoyable. A nice, light read for a rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: From ham-handedness to finess
Review: When Steve Martin made the film, The Jerk, in 1979, I was hoping for a series of sequels, The Jerk II, Return of the Jerk, The Jerk Strikes Again, etc.His heavy-handed, goofy humor appealed to me at the time as real "escapist" stuff. Little did I realize the growth potential of his talent, exemplified best by his emergence as a writer. The Pleasure of My Company is a first rate example of this. The Amazon.com review descibes it best, "..this elegant little fiction that verges on the profound and poetic."Daniel is "Mr. Everyman" in so many ways, full of human foibles, brimming over with self-doubts, hangups, wonderment over his role on the planet Earth. As weird as Daniel seems in an overall context, there are so many parts of him with which one can identify. At times we all share the pessimism--that total ring of pessimism, like the resident who depresses property prices wherever he goes. We all find the American Dream--like homeownership, a cuddly feeling of security--violated at various times, in and out, throughout our lives. We all go through periods in life when we are looking under the door mat and seat cushions to find where we might have inadvertently dropped our car keys. Heap all of these intermittant idiosyncrasies together, and we are all Daniel, Jr. It's not only the light touch, but the human touch that make for so much joy in reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Entertaining
Review: This book was so thoroughly enjoyable and uplifting that it made me hug myself. Martin's tale of Daniel Pecan Cambridge is one that we can all relate too. Although, we might not all have obsessive compulsive disorder, we do all have daily struggles that prevent us from reaching happiness. Cambridge's ability to overcome his struggles and achieve at least some form of happiness was so uplifting. Martin's wit is also evident throughout the novel, and entertains us with Cambridge's disorders. The funny thing is that Cambridge would probably laugh at his disorders along with us. He knows they are absurd, but is helpless to stop them. Excellent book and wonderfully funny and entertaining to read.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable
Review: Sometimes I look askance at books written by actors. I think: they are not writers. However, Steve Martin exceeds categories. I read Shopgirl, his previous novel, and as much as I enjoyed it, this book is far beyond it.

He uses beautiful restraint, and tight writing to make the tale one of infinite familiarity. It starts out funny, but also sad, and yet grows into triumph in the small things that matter in life. I was amazed again and again by Martin's choice of words, the way each description of an emotion, a sound, a moment was so apt.

The author has a compassion and understanding for his character, and makes him familiar and understandable, despite very unusal quirks. It is a very new look at obsessive compulsive behaviors and the way we create order in our overflowing lives.

I very highly reccomend this book and I think you will discover, as I did, that it is more meaningful and thoughtful than it at first presents itself to be.