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Title/Author

An Object of Beauty

Steve Martin

Average Review Rating Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)
Book Details

Publisher : Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Published : 2010

Copyright : Steve Martin 2010

ISBN-10 : HB 0-297-86329-0
ISBN-13 : HB 978-0-297-86329-8

Publisher's Write-Up

An irresistible look at the glamour and subterfuge of New York's art world, from bestselling author and Hollywood star Steve Martin.

Lacey Yeager is beautiful, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. She begins her career at Sotheby's, amidst the winks and nods of the fabulously wealthy. But hungry for more - and pursued by a whiff of scandal - Lacey migrates to edgy Downtown, watching Hirsts and Warhols multiply in value before her eyes.

Charming men and women, old and young, rich and even richer, Lacey's ascendancy seems assured. But when the art world bubble looks set to burst, a secret from her past rears its head, threatening to undermine everything she has worked for.

About the Author:
Steve Martin is one of today's most talented performers. His huge successes as a film actor include such credits as Roxanne, Father of the Bride, Parenthood and The Spanish Prisoner. He has won Emmys for his television writing and two Grammys for comedy albums. In addition to the bestselling Pure Drivel, he has written several plays, and the highly acclaimed novels, Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company. His work appears in The New Yorker and the New York Times. He is an avid and knowledgeable collector of art.

'An astringently witty tour of Manhattan's extravagantly booming auction houses, pricey little galleries and their glitzy hinterland. En route, modish fads and fraudulence, vacuous collectors, dubious sales-room operators and artists who are dab hands at self-promotion are deftly impaled.'

Sunday Times

'Effortlessly stylish... Martin is so multitalented as to make you sick.'

Guardian

'Told with charm and pizzaz.'

Independent
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Reader Reviews

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Review by Ben Macnair (311012) Rating (8/10)

Review by Ben Macnair
Rating 8/10
Steve Martin's third novel An Object of Beauty looks at the art world, from the view point of Lacey Yeager, a young, ambitious, and morally ambiguous arts dealer, who works her way up from the bottom of the heap, to running her own gallery in New York.

A family heirloom picture starts her climb up the career ladder, but secrets from the past are threatening to spoil both her reputation, and that of her friend, the arts writer Daniel, who is also the narrator of this story. It goes along at quite a pace, with short sentences, and chapters helping to push the action along. Although Art is a central theme throughout the novel, the reader does not need to know all about it. The novel is expertly researched, but the research does not get in the way of the story telling, that has always been Martin's forte (as well as the acting, the comedy, and the critically acclaimed musical career).

At a little over three hundred pages, the story packs a lot in, and tells the ups and downs of two careers that seem to run in parallel, each knowing more about the other than should really be the case. There is a lot recommend this book, and reader's groups will find much to discuss within its pages.
Ben Macnair (31st October 2012)

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