Mirabelle is the "shopgirl" of the title, a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus "selling things that nobody buys anymore..."

Slightly lost, slightly off-kilter, very shy, Mirabelle charms because of all that she is not: not glamorous, not aggressive, not self-aggrandizing. Still there is something about her that is irresistible.

Mirabelle captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they tentatively embark on a relationship, they both struggle to decipher the language of love -- with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking. Filled with the kind of witty, discerning observations that have brought Steve Martin critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.

In the mid-seventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. Born Standing Up is, in his own words, the story of "why I did stand-up and why I walked away."

At age ten Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, performing his first magic/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory.

Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times: the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late sixties, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the seventies.

Shopgirl revealed the novelist in Steve Martin -- witty, tender, intelligent, and passionate about his craft. And with the successful publication of The Pleasure of My Company, his reputation as one of our most gifted writers has been confirmed. Here, the reader is introduced to Daniel Pecan Cambridge, whose life is full and rich -- but only within the confines of his Santa Monica apartment. Daniel's pathological obsession with street curbs and gas station attendants wearing blue hats may prevent him from venturing into the world outside of his window, but not from pursuing romance in his own peculiar way.

Meticulously constructed, laugh-out-loud funny, and brilliantly inventive, Steve Martin's chronicle of a modern-day neurotic yearning to break free has touched more than 200,000 readers. Now in paperback, thousands more can have the pleasure of discovering his most delightful novel to date.

"Most vulnerable are writers who work in short, choppy sentences," said a spokesperson for Times Roman, who continued, "We are trying to remedy the situation and have suggested alternatives, like umlauts, since we have plenty of umlauts--and, in fact, have more umlauts than we could possibly use in a lifetime! Don't forget, umlauts can really spice up a page with their delicate symmetry--resting often midway in a word, letters spilling on either side--and not only indicate the pronunciation of a word but also contribute to a writer's greater glory because they're fancy, not to mention that they even look like periods, indeed, are indistinguishable from periods, and will lead casual readers to believe that the article actually contains periods!"

Although some of these pieces flirted with topicality when they first appeared, Martin is most successful when he leaves the real world behind and gives his wit free rein. This collection preserves the best (so far) of his glorious improvisations. --Simon Leake

What one word can you start using today to increase your persuasiveness by more than fifty percent?

Which item of stationery can dramatically increase people's responses to your requests?

How can you win over your rivals by inconveniencing them?

Why does knowing that so many dentists are named Dennis improve your persuasive prowess?

Every day we face the challenge of persuading others to do what we want. But what makes people say yes to our requests? Persuasion is not only an art, it is also a science, and researchers who study it have uncovered a series of hidden rules for moving people in your direction. Based on more than sixty years of research into the psychology of persuasion, Yes! reveals fifty simple but remarkably effective strategies that will make you much more persuasive at work and in your personal life, too.

Cowritten by the world's most quoted expert on influence, Professor Robert Cialdini, Yes! presents dozens of surprising discoveries from the science of persuasion in short, enjoyable, and insightful chapters that you can apply immediately to become a more effective persuader. Why did a sign pointing out the problem of vandalism in the Petrified Forest National Park actually increase the theft of pieces of petrified wood? Why did sales of jam multiply tenfold when consumers were offered many fewer flavors? Why did people prefer a Mercedes immediately after giving reasons why they prefer a BMW? What simple message on cards left in hotel rooms greatly increased the number of people who behaved in environmentally friendly ways?

Often counterintuitive, the findings presented in Yes! will steer you away from common pitfalls while empowering you with little known but proven wisdom.

Whether you are in advertising, marketing, management, on sales, or just curious about how to be more influential in everyday life, Yes! shows how making small, scientifically proven changes to your approach can have a dramatic effect on your persuasive powers.

The introduction, by philosopher and critic Arthur Danto, places Fischl in the context of his contemporaries. Commentary drawn from interviews with Fischl - conducted by noted writer Robert Enright - accompany the paintings. Finally, a witty and personal afterword by Steve Martin - best known as a gifted comic and autor, but also as an astute collector of modern art - discusses Barbecue, a famed Fischl painting from his private collection.

Whether you sell products, services or ideas, you'll learn how to create and maintain a high-value customer relationship that makes it easy for customers to buy. Discover practical new ways to identify what's valuable to your customer... and deliver it. And above all, learn powerhouse techniques for moving any customer from talk to action--from opportunity to sale.

SOLD! is enthusiastically endorsed by business and sales leaders worldwide, including Julian Richer, Richer Sounds ("Most Successful Retailer Ever"--Guinness Book of Records); Barry Gibbons, former chairman/CEO, Burger King; and Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, author of the global bestseller "Influence: Science and Practice."

ENDORSEMENTS:

*"I think that SOLD! highlights how easy and straight forward selling can be--anyone practicing these simple principles is bound to be successful." - Julian Richer, Founder and MD of Richer Sounds

*"Whether it's products or services, today you either sell in cluttered, competitive markets or you are already dead. Sold! does for selling what 'unplugged' did for rock music--it brings it back to core competences and basics. The latter was badly needed--so is Sold!" - Barry Gibbons, Former Chairman and CEO, Burger King Corp.

*"With SOLD!, Steve Martin and Gary Colleran have achieved a rare success, delivering genuinely instructive material in a genuinely engaging and entertaining fashion. As a result, sales professionals who read it are themselves likely to experience rare success, for the book is a highly effective guide for creating long-term customers." - Professor Robert B. Cialdini PhD, is Regents Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and author of the world's best selling book on Influence and Persuasion.

*"The effective selling principles described in this book are not only simple and focussed on the sales outcome, but also help us to build productive ongoing relationships with our customers." - Humphrey Harte, Director of Sales and Marketing, PowderJect

*"What Sold! does is to take away all the non-essential ideas, techniques and tactics that have complicated the approach to selling and provide people with all essential principles that will make the difference." - Pharmaceutical Field magazine