Review : The Pleasure of my Company

Posted by kay on April 1, 2010 7:48 pm in 4 stars reads | 5 comments

The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin
Pages : 163
Genre : Fiction
Stand Alone
My Rating :

From Goodreads :

Daniel Pecan Cambridge, 30, 35, 38, or 27, depending on how he feels that day, is a young man whose life is rich and full, provided he never leaves his Santa Monica apartment. After all, outside there are 8-inch-high curbs and there’s always the horrible chance he might see a gas station attendant wearing a blue hat. So, except for the occasional trip to the Rite Aid to admire the California girl Zandy and to buy earplugs because they’re on sale, he stays home a lot. And a good thing too, or he would have never been falsely implicated in a murder, never almost seduced Philip, never done the impossible task of jogging around the block with Brian, never ironed his pillows, and he might never have won the Most Average American essay contest.

The Pleasure of my Company was my second experience of Steve Martin’s writing, and once more I really enjoyed it. Despite the beginning being a little slow, I thought this was a quick and entertaining read and easily finished it in one sitting.

What I enjoyed the most was how Martin writes Daniel’s voice with humor, without turning him in derision. He gives us a good understanding of Daniel’s obsessive compulsive behavior without being pessimistic or mocking. It’s the kind a narration that makes you smile, maybe even laugh a little – I know I did! And as someone who deals with obsessive compulsive habits in life (not to Daniel’s degree though!), I thought this portrait of weird habits was very realistically drawn.

I enjoyed this one a tiny bit more than Shopgirl, I have to say. It was a lighter read, but also more subtly written. This being said, the narration was a bit repetitive due to Daniel’s condition, and I think this might prevent some readers from enjoying the novel completely.

Here’s hoping we’ll see more of Steve Martin’s fiction in the feature!