Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction:
Shopgirl: A Novella
I have great fondness for this lovely and piercing short book. Steve Martin, as a writer (his plays, his essays in The New Yorker, his stories) has always touched me. This is the dude who wore an arrow through his head and played the banjo? Yes, it is. That’s one of the things that I have always loved about Steve Martin, and what set him apart, in my opinion, from other comedians. There was always something very “heady” about Steve Martin’s comedy – even though it LOOKED crazy and chaotic and he roller-skated around on The Tonight Show dressed up as a pharaoah. There was still something extremely intellectual about it.
Last year I read his memoir about his stand-up years (Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life
But let me bring it back to Shopgirl and now mention the film that was made of his book: when Steve Martin plays someone isolated, and kind of cold – like the Ray Porter character – he is fantastic. I thought he was fantastic in the part. I don’t know who Steve Martin is. I know (from his book) that he has a crowd of lifelong friends – people he feels in debt to … he knows the help he has gotten to get to his position, and he is grateful, and still kind of in awe about how the whole thing happened. But when he steps into Ray Porter – the chilly 50-something bachelor – who sees “something” in Mirabelle, the young woman behind the glove counter – you can’t imagine anyone else in the role. Steve Martin is, at heart, an isolated guy. Think of him all alone on those massive stadium stages, in his white suit, making balloon “animals”. I am not convinced by him in ensemble pieces – but in Shopgirl he was wonderful – I think it’s his best performance yet. Well worth seeing, if you haven’t.
But now let me talk about his writing, because I don’t want the movie to take away from the book. It’s a slim novel, and the writing is spare, almost elegant. He does not go off into flights of description, he stays on point. There are three main characters: Mirabelle, a depressive artist who lives in LA, and works behind the glove counter at Sak’s. Ray Porter, a successful businessman who shuttles between Seattle and LA, and who pursues Mirabelle. Jeremy – the young messy anarchic font-designer who also pursues Mirabelle. Mirabelle is a quiet serious woman, who lives a quiet lonely life (and Martin so GETS that kind of quietness – it is the type of quiet that could describe my life as well). I read the book and not only enjoyed it – but felt named by it. I felt recognized. Mirabelle is not ‘swept away’ by Ray Porter – he’s in his 50s, totally inappropriate for her – but he, in all his chilly isolation, does “see” her. And it is a powerful experience, being seen. It can be dangerous. At least it can for me. Because “being seen” doesn’t mean anything other than someone else really ‘sees’ you – for who you are, maybe even sees things you don’t see. But to place an expectation of a specific RESULT on “being seen” – is what is dangerous. That is what has broken my heart time and time again. Being seen is so powerful that it seems like it MUST, it HAS TO, lead to something “more”. It must, right? It can’t be otherwise! And when you are lonely, it becomes even more acute. It seems like being seen will also SAVE you. This is what Mirabelle experiences when she is with Ray. They do have sex, and all that – but for Mirabelle, what is going on with him, is profound. It’s profound for Ray, too – but he is in a different place, and in a way – he doesn’t realize how dangerous the situation is. He thinks Mirabelle understands the situation, he thinks they have an understanding: of course the relationship won’t “go” anywhere … but for now, it is lovely, right? Ray is not a cad, though – he really isn’t. He is a lonely intellectual-minded man, who flies around in private jets, eats in the kitchen standing up – and finds Mirabelle’s innocence completely captivating. He feels guilty, though – she is a young woman, after all … so he buys her expensive gifts – things that overwhelm her. Shoes, purses, etc. He has exquisite taste. Lonely quiet Mirabelle, on antidepressants, begins to blossom. Again, Ray doesn’t realize how dangerous it is to be the agent of someone’s blossoming – if you don’t expect to stick around. On the flipside, there is Jeremy – a young guy, who can barely do his own laundry – who orates at Mirabelle about the nature of the music business, and fonts, and his ambition … who struggles with condoms, who is, in general, a big man-boy. But again: he sees something in Mirabelle. Jeremy’s journey in Shopgirl is almost my favorite of the whole book. I don’t want to write more about it – because I’m making it sound conventional and maybe even a little bit preachy – and it is neither of those things. The way it is written is what is unconventional about it. The “voice” of the book (and that whole “voice” concept will come up again and again in the book – you’ll even see it in the excerpt below) struck me right away. This is not a casual in-the-moment voice. Of course not. It’s Steve Martin. Steve Martin’s genius had to do with his distance from things – hard to explain (but he does a great job of it in his memoir). He is not in the thick-and-thin of life … he stands slightly to the side. That’s what the voice of this delicate little book sounds like. I loved the voice. It is (not to give anything more away) completely omniscent – which might seen a bit heavy-handed for such a tiny little love story. But Martin uses it very consciously. It is how the story NEEDS to be told. I love the sound of the book. There are times in the thick-and-thin of life, the unfairness of events, the up and down of fortune … when I also yearn for an omniscent voice. It’s just great how Martin sets it all up.
Here’s an excerpt. It’s one of those times in the book when I feel recognized by the prose. The beginning of it stays quite matter-of-fact … the voice is calmly telling us what it is like for Mirabelle. But then at the end of the excerpt – watch how it shifts. Great stuff. Because when we are consumed with self, we often cannot see ourselves. And sometimes it takes an observer to tell us who we are. Kind of like Jack Nicholson does to Diane Keaton in the pancake-making scene in the middle of the night in Something’s Gotta Give. They have known each other for 24 hours – and he says a couple of pointed things to her and she says, “I can’t decide if you hate me … or if you’re the only person who’s ever gotten me.”
That’s what is going on in this book. It’s a lonely book. Loneliness can change your personality. It can warp (permanently) what once was straight and sure. Loneliness is a condition, and it has long-term effects. After a certain amount of time, being in relation with your fellow man begins to feel stressful, even though you desire it. Loneliness warps. Mirabelle is on that path.
EXCERPT FROM Shopgirl: A Novella
the weekend
It is 9 a.m., and for the second time that morning Mirabelle is awake. The first time was two hours earlier when Jeremy slipped out, giving her a kiss good-bye that was so formal it might as well have been wearing a tuxedo. She didn’t take it badly because, well, she couldn’t afford to. She also is glad he’s gone, not looking forward to the awkward task of getting to know a man she’s already slept with. A little eye of sunlight forms on her bed and inches its way across her bedspread. She gets up, mixes her Serzone into a glass of orange juice, and drinks it down as though it were a quick vodka tonic, fortifying herself for the weekend.
Weekends can be dangerous for someone of Mirabelle’s fragility. One little slipup in scheduling and she can end up staring at eighteen hours of television. That’s why she joined a volunteer organization that goes out and builds and repairs houses for the disadvantaged, a kind of community cleanup operation, called Habitat for Humanity. This takes care of the day. Saturday night usually offers a spontaneous get-together with the other Habitat workers in a nearby bar. If that doesn’t happen, which this night it doesn’t, Mirabelle is not afraid to go to a local bar alone, which this night she does, where she might run into someone she knows or nurse a drink and listen to the local band. As she sits in a booth and checks the amplifiers for Jeremy’s signature stencil, it never occurs to Mirabelle to observe herself, and thus she is spared the image of a shy girl sitting alone in a bar on Saturday night. A girl who is willing to give every ounce of herself to someone, who could never betray her lover, who never suspects maliciousness of anyone, and whose sexuality sleeps in her, waiting to be stirred. She never feels sorry for herself, except when the overpowering chemistry of depression inundates her and leaves her helpless. She moved from Vermont hoping to begin her life, and now she is stranded in the vast openness of L.A. She keeps working to make connections, but the pile of near misses is starting to overwhelm her. What Mirabelle needs is some omniscent voice to illuminate and spotlight her, and to inform everyone that this one has value, this one over here, the one sitting in the bar by herself, and then to find her counterpart and bring him to her.
But that night, the voice does not come, and she quietly folds herself up and leaves the bar.
The voice is to come on Tuesday.
The Books: “Shopgirl: A Novella” (Steve Martin)
Next book in my Daily Book Excerpt – on my adult fiction shelves: Shopgirl A Novella by Steve Martin I have great fondness for this lovely and piercing short book. Steve Martin, as a writer (his plays, his essays in…
//What Mirabelle needs is some omniscent voice to illuminate and spotlight her, and to inform everyone that this one has value, this one over here, the one sitting in the bar by herself, and then to find her counterpart and bring him to her.//
Wow, my heart just skip a little beat when I read this sentence. I’ve thought something to the same effect so many times – had that sort of expectation, or need, when everything becomes too bewildering, of being touched by that damned omniscient light already. Wow. Unbelievable.
Great excerpt – I’ve always been fond of Steve Martin as a comedian, but I never imagined he could pull such writing (not that he could not do it, but I guess I have a limited imagination, haha). You’re right about his voice – it comes out perfectly in this short excerpt you posted. Now I need to go get me this book!
Sheil – listened to his memoir during my flight to LA – what a great story teller!
Steve Martin is a treasure. I LOVE his writing. I haven’t read his memoir but I’ve been meaning to. I adored “Patter for a Floating Lady.” Have you read it? Rumor has it, it was inspired by his ill-fated romance with Anne Heche. He knew she was an opportunistic social climber long before she latched onto Ellen DeGeneres and quickly became a household name.
Curly – no, I have not read Patter – putting it on the list right now!
You will LOVE his memoir.
I *might* have it if you want to borrow it. I think it’s in a collection along with “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.” I’ll check. If I still have it, you’re welcome to it. :)
Curly – Oh, okay! I have that Picasso collection actually – I’ll check it out when I get home.
In the memoir his whole story of his methodical putting-together of that crazy act … it’s just wonderfully told. Makes me just love him.
Jean – it’s a great book, isn’t it? I wish I was with you guys last night. Hope you had fun.
This is one of those books that’s been on my shelf forever, but i saw (and loved) the movie and that took away any feeling of urgency to read the book, but now I have to move it up the “to read” list. Watching the movie was such a surreal experience because they filmed it in my neighborhood and I know a Mirabelle, i.e. a lonely girl from Vermont who moved to this neighborhood. We saw the movie together and afterwards, she was like: “when did Steve Martin follow me around and study my life?” The specific similarities were eerie, but what it said to me was that Martin’s such a good writer that just he created this character that felt 100 percent true.
I love his essays. And I rewatch L.A. Story at least once a year. As ridiculous as it is, I feel like it’s one of the most accurate film depictions of L.A. ever made.
(oh, and by the way, Brendan introduced me to your sister Jean last week and she’s lovely! if you’re reading this, hi Jean!)
Erik – The movie slayed me. I was totally not prepared to be so ripped apart by the film – but I remember starting to weep at one point – it was just so so moving, in what felt to me to be like an original way. It got to me.
Recently I saw it again and had the same experience. So it’s a keeper.
The voiceover of Steve Martin at the beginning – which could be seen as a copout – is SO not … you need that “omniscent voice” feeling to be introduced into the film … it’s important that we see Mirabelle in that way (like when the camera looks down thru her skylight) …
I don’t know … like she is so lonely, but … that omniscent voice SEES her.
The film kills me – I am in love with it. So glad to hear that someone else had the same experience.
I have the memior – there was something so elegiac to the cover of it, with the blurred distant image of Martin on stage… even the cover design says what he chooses to say. It’s not a cover shot of him mugging or of one of his characters or even a close-up of his performance. Those would be fine for other comics, but not Steve Martin.
Nice to be able to say hello again, by the way. =)
Erik!!!
I had a blast that night and it was so great to see you again.
Sheil, I have been thinking about the Steve Martin book ever since I read it. There is something historic about it…the juxtaposition of how he started and how he made it…vaudeville almost…like he started in pre-history and wound up in the future.
xo
b
Ceci – yes, that bit about what Mirabelle needs – someone to recognize her and “inform everyone that this one has value, this one over here, the one sitting in the bar by herself, and then to find her counterpart and bring him to her” … I know that feeling. He just nails it, I think!
Bren – yeah, definitely vaudevillian-esque beginnings. Just soooo interesting! Glad you liked.
Miss you.
I listened to the book-on-type which was read by Steve Martin, so the voice over at the beginning seemed perfectly appropriate.
I thought the casting was PERFECT for this movie (i.e. the characters were exactly as I expected them to be both in looks and acting). Strangely, though Jimmy Fallon was supposed to play Jeremy, before dropping out and Martin orginally wanted Hanks to play his role. I guess Fallon would have worked well, but I always pictured Martin in the Ray Porter role (I got the feeling, hearing the book, that there is a lot of “Ray” in Steve.
JFH –
My point about the voiceover is that it should always ADD to what is being seen – it should never tell you what is already being shown – that’s boring. And I didn’t understand (at the start of the film of Shopgirl) why there was a voiceover at all (that was my initial impression – I wrote about it on the blog) – it seemed inappropriate because of the small kitchen-sink nature of the story – until I heard Martin say (2 seconds later in the very same voiceover) the “omniscent voice” line – “what Mirabelle needs is an omniscent voice” and then it all totally made sense. Perfect choice. Voiceover and overhead shot … absolutely perfect.
I hadn’t read the book when I saw the film, so the whole “voice” thing wasn’t apparent to me at first.
Erik – by the way, totally jealous that you all got together and got to meet. Sigh. I feel so far away!! But I get to live it vicariously.
I miss your blog – but I totally understand why you felt the need to stop.
Sheila, what you said about the voice-over needing to add something to the film, I agree that Martin gets that balance totally right in the movie. Have you seen Little Children? I feel like they were trying to do a similar thing with their voice-over, but it didn’t work for me in that one. I know it was supposed to add to the whole “satirical edge,” but I kept thinking while I was watching that movie that if they took out all of the voice-over, I’d still completely get the satirical things they were trying to say about suburbia, and I wouldn’t feel like I was being hit over the head with it. Whereas in Shopgirl, it provides just the right texture.
Thank you for missing my blog. After I stopped writing it, several friends came out of the woodworks and confessed that they read my blog but I had no idea because they’d never left a comment. I miss the blog too, but it just had to end. Maybe I’ll start another one of these days.
You have to come out to LA sometime and come to Tuesdays@Nine! That’s where Bren introduced me to Jean. It was a fun night, and we talked about how much we all love your blog, so it was kind of like you WERE there.
Erik – I do need to come out there – I’m dying to get out there again. I’ll be in Chicago next week – for some unbelievably necessary R&R (is it Saturday yet?? – i am barely getting thru the days) – but I need to plan my next trip to LA as well. I miss my brother, my nephew. My friend Alex. etc.
and yes, you know what I’m talking about with the voiceover. Kind of like those annoying soundtracks that don’t ADD to what you’re already seeing – they just repeat ad nauseum what you should be feeling. Like in Notting Hill – where Hugh Grant is bummed-out man walking down the street and the song on the soundtrack accompanying him is “ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” Too obvious – SO unnecessary and annoying!
I love a movie with themes in the music … that come back, and underline, and morph … it really creates a MOOD as opposed to being too literal and telling you: “Please feel THIS exact emotion, thanks.”
Not that the Shopgirl voiceover was that – it was that that was my first impression, within the first couple of seconds of the film … and then realized when I heard the “omniscent voice” line that everything was quite deliberate, and it was actually perfect!
Nightfly – I totally agree with you about the cover image of his memoir. It is haunting – in a weird way – that small white figure surrounded by black – very very surreal. Wonderful book!
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