Friday, September 21, 2007

A Book Report

While at the Bookmarks Festival a few weeks ago, I browsed a tent full of used books. Paperback books were 2/$1.00 and hardcover books were $1.00. (That's better pricing than Edward McKays!) I purchased Les Miserables for Mallorie, as well as the Les Mis cliff notes. (She'll be reading the Victor Hugo novel in English this year.) I also bought her an English/French pocket dictionary, since she's taking French. I still needed to get one more paperback book...

I saw Steve Martin's Shopgirl and, never having read anything by Steve Martin, I decided to get it. I finished it Tuesday, and I must say it was well worth the 50 cents I technically paid for it. Any more than that and I would have been disappointed.

The book itself is nice. The cover is the same as the above picture. The front and back have flaps which give it a dust jacket feel. And the pages have a nice texture. Unfortunately, the story doesn't fit the "elegantness" of the package.

I was impressed by the first chapter. His choice of words to create very interesting and visual sentences was unique. However, the more I read, the more I had to re-read these sentences to fully understand his point. There was also almost no dialogue, which made for an incredibly wordy book. I was glad it was only 130 pages long.

And the story itself was not very rewarding. From the inside flap:
Mirabelle is the "shopgirl" of the title, a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus "selling things that nobody buys anymore..."

Mirabelle capture the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they tentatively embark on a relationship, they struggle to decipher the language of love-with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking.
For me, there was nothing redeemable about Ray Porter's character or his interest in Mirabelle. At 50 years old, Ray should well know better. I kept fighting the desire to reach inside the book to slap Mirabelle upside the head and shout, "Wake up, Sister!"

If you want to read it, I'll be trading it in at Edward McKays. Be forewarned, it'll probably cost you more than the half dollar it cost me.

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