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blondereader's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a poignant tale of sex and growing up. Lots of sex, but the book isn't sexy. Martin offers lots of observations about humans and the way their communications cause disconnects.
yaqbox's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
caffeinated's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
nerdalert219's review against another edition
DNF @ pg 19/130. Didn't like the writing style.
again_dangerous_visions_4952's review against another edition
4.0
Remember that time Steve Martin wrote a novella channeling late career Henry James? This was it. I liked it more than most of you did.
rickwren's review against another edition
3.0
This is both a cute and a powerful story. Steve Martin is quick and light with his prose with a talent for striking the right simile and the perfect brevity line after line. Mirabella is a depressed, lonely, shy clerk at a Beverly Hills department store, who is swept off her feet by a wealthy older man. Every plot thread, whether major or minor winds a nice circular path and in the end I felt good about what had become of everyone. I think Martin examined the intricacies of relationships through several eyes with astute observations and excellent clarity.
It's a quick read, and I hear it's been made into a movie, which I'll probably rent just to see how it was converted to the big screen.
It's a quick read, and I hear it's been made into a movie, which I'll probably rent just to see how it was converted to the big screen.
nathansnook's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
"๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต."
Waited out on reviewing this after my viewing of the film, hoping it would save the book, but the film only makes the story and themes even WORSE.
Sadly, there is no saving grace to this.
Steven Martin wants to show you he is sensitive, but he comes off as simply man. Too man. White old man. Man of man. To the point where women mean nothing. Objectifying our lead female character with men who think what theyโve done, even the hurt they have caused, was justified, while our shopgirl lays to rot and rest and is expected to move on as quick as the men she fucked.
Will mention that the film does a better job at representing the characters as the novel is subpar in writing. Martin writes his zingers in, light comedic moments to balance out the over-seriousness found in the book. Unfortunately, Steve Martin is too serious in his own writing that it is laughably bad.
Truly awful. But perhaps a good representation of what men thought and felt during the early 2000โs.
Waited out on reviewing this after my viewing of the film, hoping it would save the book, but the film only makes the story and themes even WORSE.
Sadly, there is no saving grace to this.
Steven Martin wants to show you he is sensitive, but he comes off as simply man. Too man. White old man. Man of man. To the point where women mean nothing. Objectifying our lead female character with men who think what theyโve done, even the hurt they have caused, was justified, while our shopgirl lays to rot and rest and is expected to move on as quick as the men she fucked.
Will mention that the film does a better job at representing the characters as the novel is subpar in writing. Martin writes his zingers in, light comedic moments to balance out the over-seriousness found in the book. Unfortunately, Steve Martin is too serious in his own writing that it is laughably bad.
Truly awful. But perhaps a good representation of what men thought and felt during the early 2000โs.