Daniel's review
Shopgirl
by Steve Martin
Great review. It's true that, though so much is told to us, it never comes off as forced, well, except for a couple of glaring exceptions, but I forgive him that.
It's certainly easier to forgive him that than "Father of the Bride II."
Daniel's review
Shopgirl by Steve Martin
Daniel's review
rating:
There are a handful of writers I've come across who've successfully broken the "show, don't tell" rule every writer is taught. Kurt Vonnegut was one, and Steve Martin is another. It'd be hard to imagine Vonnegut in "Breakfast of Champions," for example, giving the reader all the information he wants to convey about Kilgore Trout, Dwayne Hoover and Eliot Rosewater through action and dialogue alone. Similarly, Martin in "Shopgirl," which is almost completely lacking in dialogue, spends most of the novella telling us about Ray Porter, Mirabelle and Jeremy, almost never showing us who they are through their words or actions. Yet, somehow, the book works just fine. In fact, it works better than the film version, which, being a film, was forced to turn much of the telling into showing.
One of the book's few failings, though, lies in some of its descriptions of Los Angeles. Martin is fine when sticking to the Los Angeles he knows -- art galleries and celebrity...more
One of the book's few failings, though, lies in some of its descriptions of Los Angeles. Martin is fine when sticking to the Los Angeles he knows -- art galleries and celebrity...more
Great review. It's true that, though so much is told to us, it never comes off as forced, well, except for a couple of glaring exceptions, but I forgive him that.
It's certainly easier to forgive him that than "Father of the Bride II."