I'm not quite sure what I was expecting. I haven't seen the movie. I only knew that Steve Martin was doing a movie based on his novella, Shopgirl. So, when I saw the novella in the library, I decided to check it out. I'm not sure if I am surprised or if I kind of always knew. Steve Martin is good. The book isn't perfect. But, that just makes it more enjoyable. The real issue is how to separate Steve Martin from the work in question. Which then leads to other issues like whether or not one should separate the work from the author.

Leaving those issues aside, I have to say that I was surprised. I was surprised that a man of Martin's age, wealth and experience could so effortlessly capture the character of Mirabelle. Mirabelle is a shy, lonely, young woman. She is still caught in a post-collegiate malaise that is amplified by her clinical depression. Mirabelle works as a "shopgirl" in the gloves department of Neiman Marcus. She has no motivations to move up in her department. She looks at her job as just a job and her real calling is art. She spends many evenings drawing and others forcing herself to go out. These are things she does to keep her depression at arms' length while also taking medications. These things also help her keep a semblance of a "real life." There is an overwhelming sense that Mirabelle is simply waiting.

She meets Jeremy, a caricature of a slacker, at the laundry mat. Mirabelle's interest in Jeremy is simple. He is interested in her and that is enough to make him attractive. After some bumbling attempts at a "relationship" with Jeremy, Mirabelle meets Ray.

Ray is in his fifties. He is suave, wealthy, and preoccupied with sex. He has a plan for seduction and is honest about not wanting to commit to her. His honesty is a part of his seduction. It allows him to free himself when he is done without regret that he has hurt anyone. Mirabelle hears something different in his honesty. She hears that he loves her but is afraid. The two dance around each other both misinterpreting what the other wants from the relationship. While Mirabelle waits, Ray searches. Ray is looking for an "appropriate" woman to have a real relationship with. He sees Mirabelle as a pleasant distraction until he finds the right woman to share his life with. He doesn't allow himself to believe he cares for her.

As I said earlier, I was surprised by Martin's dead on characterization of Mirabelle. He truly understands the depths of true clinical depression and its symptoms. What's more intriguing is his understanding of a woman who is so far from him in age, wealth, and social status. This is where those pesky issues of separating the writer from his fiction come into play. Is Martin describing something autobiographical? If so, does it really matter?

I'm thinking that while it probably does matter, it really shouldn't. It is obvious that no matter what, Martin knows these characters. Even his caricatures are given subtle layers of depth. There is a sense that he truly knows the life of each character and has brought them all together to share with us for his own purposes. Which should be enough. But, the part of me that watches Biography wants to know more about where these characters came from.

Shopgirl is a good and surprising read. The surprise, for me, will always be that Steve Martin wrote it.

Now, I guess I have to see the movie.