Shopgirl

Shopgirl by Steve Martin is about a girl, Mirabelle, who works at a glove counter and sometimes makes charcoal drawings in her free time. Mirabelle is generally bored and often depressed, and Martin's novella is about her experiences as two new men enter her life and how her world is changed by them.

First Impression: Shopgirl by Steve Martin has the dry, understated humor that I've come to expect from the author. I never really know whether I like his characters or not, especially in the beginning of each book, and I'm still on the fence about the characters in this one. One thing I have realized is that I like his stories more when I'm listening to him read them than I do when reading them myself. Something in his tone, perhaps, changes the meaning of several sentences for me. I plan on watching the movie after listening to the piece, and I'm curious how the characters will transfer to screen.

Conclusion: I kind of predicted where the story was going, but that didn't ruin it for me. The characters became a little more balanced later in the novella, and even though I could not relate to any of them, I liked how they turned out. The ending has a smooth, comfortable feel to it, and everything felt resolved when the story ended. Although I enjoyed The Pleasure of My Company, another short piece by Martin, a bit more, Shopgirl is a nice, quick piece to read once or twice.