Book Thirty-Eight: An Object of Beauty

Besides being an actor, comedian, banjo-picker and all-around guy, Steve Martin is an author.  And a surprisingly good one.  Set in the fine art world of NYC, Lacey Yeager is youngster working at Sotheby's, eager to charm her way to her own art gallery.  The book is narrated by Lacey's friend, an art journalist and unwitting confidante and conspirator.

As I read An Object of Beauty, I was struck by it's parallels to The Great Gatsby.  Lacey is our Daisy.  The art world is our Gatsby.  And Daniel is our Carroway.  As Lacey navigates and charms her way through the art world, Daniel serves as the reader's compass.  It's not that I didn't like the book so much as I didn't understand what drove it.  What drove me to finish this novel was the need to understand how Lacey and Daniel were going to intersect.  They do, dear reader, but with lackluster results.

As I see it, An Object of Beauty is very much in the same vein as Martin's novella, Shopgirl.  That, too, suffered from a lack of purpose.  Connecting to these characters is a difficult task.  Lacey is one-sided, obnoxious and obsessive.  She lacks a morality--a humanity--that would have allowed this reader to connect.  The elusive art world is a member's only club that stopped admitting years ago.