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Title/Author

The Pleasure of my Company

Steve Martin

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

Publisher : Phoenix

Published : 2004

Copyright : Steve Martin 2003

ISBN-10 : PB 0-7538-1768-3
ISBN-13 : PB 978-0-7538-1768-1

Publisher's Write-Up

Daniel Cambridge is a thirty-three year old compulsive-obsessive. He knows the exact wattage of the bulbs in his flat, and will panic if the wattage isn't kept constant. This makes it difficult if a woman wants the lights out in the bedroom. He can't cross the street unless two opposing driveways break the kerb.

Such characteristics make it difficult for Daniel to find the right woman, but he's very keen on Elizabeth who's selling the flats across the street and Zandy who works in the local pharmacy (though he's yet to actually speak to her).

There's also the murder of Bob from downstairs. Daniel has an alibi but is still a suspect, and his agreeing to a TV reconstruction of the murder inquiry could well backfire. It might also jeopardise Daniel's chances of winning the Most Average American competition which he's entered (twice).

In Daniel Steve Martin has created a highly original, memorable character and The Pleasure of my Company will extend his unique writing gifts to an even wider audience.

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.

'Makes you laugh out loud.'

Sunday Telegraph

'Laugh-out-loud funny.'

Time Out
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Reader Reviews

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Review by Ben Macnair (311212) Rating (8/10)

Review by Ben Macnair
Rating 8/10
Steve Martin has been busy recently. His second novel, An Object of Beauty was a critically well received best seller earlier this year, and his career as a Banjo player and composer goes from strength to strength. He starred in a couple of films as well.

His first work of literature, The Pleasure of my Company was released in 2003, and explores the life of Daniel Cambridge. Daniel cannot leave his Santa Monica apartment. He panics when he has to cross over the kerb. He worries about the happening of random events. He goes to the Pharmacy to buy things. Not because he needs them, but because they are cheap, and he cannot resist a bargain. Then the outside world interrupts him.

He is wrongly accused of murder, and becomes a mini celebrity. He almost seduces Phillipa, his neighbour, but goes out running with her boyfriend instead, and faces the outside world on his own terms. He wins an essay writing competition to find the most average American, twice, and has to kill off one of the characters to hide his charade. He gives his speech, after Brian has driven him there.

It is a tragic story in many regards, but it holds the pathos in with stories about Daniel and how he sees the world outside his window. The almost childlike way in which Daniel sees the world adds a lot to the story, from the death of his grandmother, and the missed opportunity of going to her funeral, and its family reunion, to the touching pseudo family he forms with Clarissa, his therapist and her son, to the ending which is at once is both fitting and also somewhat unlikely.
Ben Macnair (31st December 2012)

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