SHOPGIRL, by Steve Martin; Hyperion, $17.95; 130 pages.
When is the last time you remember a comedian writing a serious work of fiction? That's right. It's that Steve Martin, world famous for his comedic acting but fast gaining a second career as a serious writer. His pieces regularly appear in The New Yorker, and he also wrote a critically acclaimed play, "Picasso at the Labin Agile."
His novella, "Shopgirl," adds distinction to his writing credits. It is the tender but ironic story of Mirabelle, "a young woman beautiful in a wallflower kind of way," who works behind the glove counter at the Los Angeles Nieman Marcus, "selling things that nobody buys any more."
She is college educated and a talented artist, but she is so insecure that she stays in a boring job that puts her life on hold. Most of the people she meets are considerably older than her 28 years. When she meets Mr. Ray Porter, a millionaire businessman in his 50s, she agrees to date him, even though he is a very bad risk.
Her disappointing relationship with a man of 26, Jeremy, hits the skids when she realizes that he is too juvenile, dull and out of touch to merit her attention. On their third date, at a bowling alley, he insists that she pay for her own rental shoes. Jeremy and Mirabelle are "separated by a hundred million miles of vacuum space."
To make matters more complicated, she is clinically depressed, a young woman who takes Serzone and later Celexa to keep herself on an even keel.
Her growing relationship with Porter is up and down, bordering on disaster. When Porter has "the conversation" with Mirabelle, he says he is not ready for "a real relationship right now." She says that maybe he had a tough time with his divorce. Instantly, he believes, incorrectly, that she understands him. He says, "But I love seeing you and I want to keep seeing you." She says, "I do, too."
She believes he is saying that he is close to falling in love with her. He says he is traveling too much, meaning he just wants to see her on his way in and out of town; she thinks he is saying his travel is frustrating him and he wants to reduce it. He thinks he has made it clear that they will both see other people. She thinks that when he cuts down his traveling, they will decide whether to get married or just go steady.
It's the predictable failure to communicate, seen in so many relationships between men and women. Martin's perceptiveness in describing it is brilliant. He sees men as being more interested in a physical relationship without commitment, while women are interested in genuine romance, honesty and depth. He also deftly captures many of the thoughts, habits and gestures of the sexes, with respect to each other.
In fact, he successfully extends that theme to Mirabelle's parents in Vermont. And even to Lisa, a cosmetician at Neiman's, and Jeremy, who have an accidental romantic liaison that is completely based on miscommunication.
In truth, Martin's book is an allegory that treats one of the central problems of human existence.
Even as Porter says and does things that ruin the relationship, he is actually falling in love with Mirabelle, while she is falling out of love with him. This inspires her to get hold of her life and make changes, including quitting her job and moving to San Francisco.
In the meantime, the lightweight Jeremy has miraculously grown up enough to attract a second look from her.
Although Martin occasionally uses the F-word to describe some sexual situations, it never overpowers the message or the enjoyment of the story. Martin has a clear gift to write beautifully and clearly, assisted by a broad, creative vocabulary. Using almost a stream-of-consciousness style, he tells a story simple in form but profound in meaning.
Martin is also a master of character development. He easily enables the reader to get inside each character.
And, of course, there's more than merely a sprinkling of Martin's subtle wit.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com