An Object of Beauty - Steve Martin

When I picked up this ARC at SIBA last fall, I had no idea it was written by THE Steve Martin. I had no clue he had written the novella "Shopgirl" for example. I just thought he was a wild and crazy guy that I loved in The Jerk and made a bad career choice by starring in those awful Pink Panther remakes. Where have I been?

Imagine my shock! I did some poking around, and not only is Martin an accomplished writer of adult and children's literature and actor, but is an award-winning banjo player with CDs and everything. And he is an avid art collector, and his years of observation of the business was his muse for this novel.

Synopsis: Set in the decadent 1990's and cautious 2000's in Manhattan's swanky art society, our narrator Daniel Frank, an art journalist, tells the tale of his long-time friend Lacey Yeager. Lacey is one of these fascinating creatures that demands attention when she walks into a room (a fact of which she is highly aware) and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. And what she wants is lots of money and the prestige to make it big as an art dealer. Daniel retraces Lacey's steps to this end goal...a grunt position at Sotheby's, sleeping with clients, some questionable deals, some lucky investments, a job at a high-end gallery, eventually opening her own gallery, and alot of hard work.

We also get to experience a real behind-the-scenes view of the art world. Martin interlaces real personalities with fictional ones (which are which?), capturing the fevered passion of collecting, the breathtaking beauty of oil on canvas, the fickle nature of the market, the theft and the scams. There is a whole sub-culture not privy to us middle income earthlings, until now.


My thoughts: I'm not sure what I expected when I started this book, but it wasn't conversational prose and smart, snappy characters. Who knew this guy could write? Apparently not I.

I can't say that I actually LIKED Lacey. She is every woman's nightmare (and girls, we all know one or two of these don't we?) who will steal your man if it suits her agenda. She is so self-absorbed, she has no idea the path of destruction she leaves in her wake or the people she ruins in her climb to the top. She is also smart though, and I found her undeniably witty and hard not to be mesmerized by her when she is "on".

The supporting characters (and everyone in Lacey's orbit is the supporting cast) were all amusing and believable. It was hard not to sympathize with one of Lacey's conquests, a European collector, as he loses his heart to her. We know full well he will be cast aside when she is done with him. I enjoyed the eccentricities that are permitted to the New York's filthy rich (food sniffing? telling bad stories over and over again?). Some have criticized that the characters came straight out of Vogue or Sex and the City. Maybe, but who says that is always a bad thing?

Another bonus afforded to the reader (except recipients of ARCs - boo!) is with the mention of every famous piece of art, we are treated with pictures. Oh, how I would have LOVED to have seen some of these works of art! Yes, I know, I could have googled them, but that requires too much effort. Next time I'm at Barnes & Noble, though, I'm going to sit down and have a good look.

On the downside, there is very little plot, except that it is twenty-ish years of Lacey-cam that includes the aftermath of 9/11 and the financial blowout of Wall Street. I was waiting for something big to happen, and there is a reveal, if you will, about an illegal activity, but it wasn't all that shocking or climatic. I didn't much mind though. I was too busy having fun.

4 out of 5 stars