⋙ Libro Gratis The Pleasure of My Company Steve Martin 9780786888016 Books

The Pleasure of My Company Steve Martin 9780786888016 Books

Download As PDF : The Pleasure of My Company Steve Martin 9780786888016 Books

The Pleasure of My Company Steve Martin 9780786888016 Books

My fourth time.. I have listened to the novel twice read by the author (excellent) and currently reading it again aloud with my wife.

some themes I noticed on this reading:
-- the causes and effects of childhood trauma, and how trauma may be resolved.
-- that life offers to resolve traumas through unexpected synchronicities of events.
-- stage fright.
-- who gets to be a rock star and why? The irony that Daniel Pecan Cambridge becomes a "rock star" with enormous applause for his essay on Why I Am the Most Average American. Is this a joke upon the crazy process that lifts people to outrageous fame? Is it a comment that those who are outrageously famous are really quite average? Is it saying the famous are really the most average, as if they are writing their own essays (through music, performance) on Why I Am Entirely Unusual?
-- the irony that the person who won the Most Average American contest is a homebound traumatized fearful loveable liar, which on first thought seems quite unaverage. Or on second thought is this to say the average American has these qualities? Does the author mean, Daniel Is America?
-- the beauty that, through caring for others, we may be cured of our past, and led to a fulfilling future.
-- that pursuing happiness leads to dissatisfying outcomes.
-- that allowing the unexpected, leads to fulfillment.
-- what we lie about to make us look good, may come round to ask us to go jogging.

This is one of my favorite novels. Martin's novel, An Object of Beauty is also very good, but I feel The Pleasure of My Company is one of those lasting pieces of literature like Dickens' Great Expectations. I hope Martin writes more novels!


Tags : The Pleasure of My Company [Steve Martin] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <strong>Steve Martin's gifts for subtlety and slyness compare to those of the finest comic novelists (<em>People</em></strong>) and his latest <em>New York Times</em> bestseller--a witty and tender tour de force--is now in paperback!</br></br> <em>Shopgirl</em> revealed the novelist in Steve Martin--witty,Steve Martin,The Pleasure of My Company,Hachette Books,0786888016,Humorous - General,Obsessive-compulsive disorder,Psychological fiction,FICTION Humorous General,FICTION Literary,FICTION Psychological,FICTION Romance Contemporary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,Fiction-General,GENERAL,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),POPULAR AMERICAN FICTION,Psychological,United States,steve martin books; ocd novel; novella; obsessive compulsive disorder; obsessive compulsive disorder fiction; obsessive compulsive personality disorder; mental illness novels; neurosis; anxiety; humor; humorous books; funny books; love; obsessive compulsive; contemporary fiction; comedy; california; los angeles; living with ocd; relationships; short reads; quick reads

The Pleasure of My Company Steve Martin 9780786888016 Books Reviews

This is a book that stays with you. At least, it has stayed with me. I read this and Shopgirl at about the same time, about ten years ago. Looking back now, I still like Shopgirl, but I have reread The Pleasure of my Company four more times in the intervening years, getting a little more out of it each time. That's odd, really because on the surface, this is a simple little novella. Not much happens. Daniel, the main character is either a genius, or a little slow. The story is told in first person and he tells people he is a genius, but for a time, it feels like maybe he is... not. What he certainly is, is OCD. This shows itself in ways that would make Daniel a pain to be around - he is unable to take a normal route to the drug store and keeps the wattage of all the bulbs in his apartment the same by turning certain lights off and on, for instance. What Mr. Martin accomplishes here is quite remarkable to me. He makes no effort to make Daniel likable, but he is. Completely. The narrator never says how he feels about the young boy who comes into his life, but it is so fulfilling to feel the love he has for him. This is a book, like Susan Trott's The Holy Man, that just makes me happy. I know I will read it over and over like the old favorite it has become.
If you think Columbo (the TV detective) had an extreme case of OCD, you should get a load of Daniel Pecan Cambridge, protagonist of Steve Martin’s novel, The Pleasure of My Company. If Columbo has a “full house” of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Daniel holds a “royal flush.”

An endearingly edgy neurotic, Daniel has peculiarities and quirks sufficient for a dozen people. He suffers from bouts of anxiety, is haunted with “curb fear” (crossing an eight-inch curb causes a panic attack), is afflicted with agoraphobia, and struggles with paranoia. Daniel speaks of his “demanding sense of order”; he values coherence, symmetry, and serenity. Lonely and searching for love, he lives in a fantasy world, rarely leaving his Santa Monica apartment, except on a perilous, circuitous trek to the Rite Aid Pharmacy for groceries. He buys earplugs simply because they’re on sale, and there’s always the horrible chance he might see a gas station attendant wearing a blue hat.

Our hero is far from being a dummy. One of his favorite pastimes is composing complicated magic squares (mathematical challenges that also fascinated Benjamin Franklin and Albrecht Durer). In no way do Daniel’s psychoneurotic idiosyncracies undermine his intelligence. Daniel laments a “clerical error” at Mensa “I’d taken their IQ test, but my score came back missing a digit. Where was that 1 that should have been in front of the 90?”

Other than hilarious descriptions of Daniel’s neuroses, the heart of this tale involves Daniel’s infatuation with three women Elizabeth Warner, an experienced realtor; Clarissa, a student shrink-in-training who has problems of her own; and Zandy, a cute clerk at the Rite Aid Pharmacy.

Daniel’s wealthy grandmother, who owns a huge pecan grove in Helmut, Texas (hence Daniel’s middle name), mails him generous checks, his only financial support. When Granny dies, Daniel and one of his three love interests travel to Texas to visit the deceased’s grave. To assuage his anxieties over hazarding such a long trip, Daniel determines that every word and sentence he utters en route will be sans the letter “e.”

Discouraged in his quest for mutual affection, Daniel muses, “There are few takers for the quiet heart.” But (and without revealing a spoiler) the novel ends happily. Perhaps there are still takers for the quiet heart!

Daniel’s first-person narrative is both funny and sad; we pull for him that he may have a breakthrough and relate to reality in a more positive, confident fashion. In The Pleasure of My Company, Steve Martin paints a sympathetic and sensitive portrait of a person struggling to break free of the chains that bind him. Mr. Martin has given us another enjoyable story—a worthy follow-up to Shopgirl.
I am a big fan of Steve Martin, so I might be biased in my opinion of his works.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Daniel has OCD. He is kind, sweet and brilliant. Some of his "fears" and obsessions might seem ridiculous objectively, but reading it from his point of view, especially the ultra logical way of explaining these as facts, you empathize and can almost agree that these are as they should be.

The storyline develops steadily and draws your attention completely. It transports you into Daniel's mind and world, and you might wonder, how you could ever had lived so boringly "normally" and failed to notice all those complex and interesting "rules" and concerns that others live with?

The ending feels a tat rushed, although you do feel a sense of relief and satisfaction for Daniel's future. All in all, a warm and thoughtful read. Fans would not be disappointed.
My fourth time.. I have listened to the novel twice read by the author (excellent) and currently reading it again aloud with my wife.

some themes I noticed on this reading
-- the causes and effects of childhood trauma, and how trauma may be resolved.
-- that life offers to resolve traumas through unexpected synchronicities of events.
-- stage fright.
-- who gets to be a rock star and why? The irony that Daniel Pecan Cambridge becomes a "rock star" with enormous applause for his essay on Why I Am the Most Average American. Is this a joke upon the crazy process that lifts people to outrageous fame? Is it a comment that those who are outrageously famous are really quite average? Is it saying the famous are really the most average, as if they are writing their own essays (through music, performance) on Why I Am Entirely Unusual?
-- the irony that the person who won the Most Average American contest is a homebound traumatized fearful loveable liar, which on first thought seems quite unaverage. Or on second thought is this to say the average American has these qualities? Does the author mean, Daniel Is America?
-- the beauty that, through caring for others, we may be cured of our past, and led to a fulfilling future.
-- that pursuing happiness leads to dissatisfying outcomes.
-- that allowing the unexpected, leads to fulfillment.
-- what we lie about to make us look good, may come round to ask us to go jogging.

This is one of my favorite novels. Martin's novel, An Object of Beauty is also very good, but I feel The Pleasure of My Company is one of those lasting pieces of literature like Dickens' Great Expectations. I hope Martin writes more novels!