The Pleasure of My Company

A+

One of the sweetest and most tender books I have ever read. Steve Martin's writing is so effortless and believable and I look forward to reading this book again someday.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

IT WASN'T EVEN FUNNY

If you are looking for the silly humor of vintage SNL Martin this book is not for you. If you are looking for a thought provoking, engrossing, surprising, well written, touching, human story you need to get this book. It is a quick read but it is possibly one of the most well written amazingly thought provoking things I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Marting creates amazing characters that inhabit the very limited mind he has conjured into being for the main character. It is truly brilliant.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good book!

Very enjoyable. A quick read too.

An Interesting, Entertaining Read, that can be a bit hard to follow

The Pleasure of my Company is probably the one book I've read that seemed very different from all the rest I've read. The concept behind the story (following the life of a man who "suffers" from OCD) is not something I come across often, but I liked it... a lot.

The story is about a very intelligent man, named Daniel, who has a pretty severe case of OCD. You'll learn about his struggle to live with this problem, and how he copes with the outside world. You see him grow out of his shell, and that makes it a truly heart warming story.

I did; however, find the story to be a little hard to follow some times. I suspect that may just be me though. There are several names in the book, and at first I had trouble keeping them straight. There were also a few parts of the story that seemed overall unnecessary (the pharmacist.) While it can help show what Daniel was like, in the end it just didn't seem like it needed to be there completely.

All in all, this story is a great read, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a fairly relaxing read.

Quirky Character Makes for Pleasurable Read

The story revolves around Daniel Pecan Cambridge, who has allowed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and egocentricism to define him. Daniel's life is ordinary -- albeit Daniel fancies himself extraordinary. The book is written from an narrative viewpoint, where Daniel takes an omnipotent role in projecting character traits onto strangers in an effort to create a private perfect world. Daniel is brilliant in the areas of mathematics and language -- but not so much in the area of relationships.

This brilliance causes Daniel to over-think reality, and creates compulsions such as those necessitating that light bulb wattage be balanced within his domain, that he zig-sags from point A to point B via driveways to avoid curbs, and restricting the use of certain letters or words, and where his ego craves inclusion in Mensa -- the rejection of his application due to low test scores bruises his ego in a big way.

The character of Daniel is more verbose than the plot -- an artistic coup. Among the mundane realities is Daniel's propensity to lie, then post-actively reinvent the lie as a truth. Daniel's character change comes with the realization that he has unmagically boxed himself into an ordinary existence upon receiving the letter from Mensa inviting him to retake the IQ test, citing human error on the scoring of the first test, It is then that Daniel realizes his ego no longer needs Mensa, because Mensa is fallible and therefore not extraordinary -- ordinary has no place in his new life.

Daniel's character grows incrementally as demonstrated through his relationships with women. He has no patience for Philipia's dramatic obsessions, preferring to drug her rather than listen to her problems, then feels guilty for having done so. His obsession with Elizabeth ends with the realization that a woman like her would be high maintenance and, therefore, would clash with his ego. He discovers his heroic side and a sense of responsibility with Clarissa, whose neediness rather than counseling motivate him. His relationship with Granny is one of dependency, that evolves to independence -- both financial and emotional -- as a result of her death. Zandy allows Daniel to laugh at himself and his compulsions. Her independence makes her the opposite of Clarissa her practicality makes her the opposite of Elizabeth her steady disposition makes her the opposite of Philipia.

Zandy's ability to love Daniel for who he is makes her parallel Granny in a manner that allows Daniel to finally propel himself into manhood. Zandy is ordinary, which makes her extraordinary. She is ultimately the embodiment of perfection Daniel yearns for. She is the inversion of Daniel's ego-driven "extraordinary," yet faux, self-perception. Zandy is effectively life coming full circle for Daniel. She represents the balance necessary for Daniel to finally be himself. The final line in this book, which is really the final fragment of a much longer sentence, structurally embodies Daniel while nicely summarizing this endearing story: "there were still many takers for the quiet heart." The letter "e" appears eight times. Daniel's final magic square contains eight entries containing the names of special people, surrounding a ninth entry containing the names of Zandy and their daughter, Angela. That center square is the essence of Daniel's "quiet heart."

Hard to stop reading

Martin is so good at developing great characters. Thi is one of those bboks that is hard to put down.

Utterly Delighful!

This book is absolutely marvelous! It touched me to the core and made me laugh out loud, sometimes simultaneously. Read It!

Don't be fooled. Steve Martin is a serious writer.

I am the sort of reader that needs to turn to something light every few months. Steve Martin is a good writer and should be taken seriously. This is a story of a man with OCD who is making his way through life with humor and agility. I read this not long after reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night" and found "The Pleasure of My Company" similar in content but much more enjoyable.

Loved it

Hilarious and sweet. I loved this book

I can't believe this isn't a movie yet

I was hooked at the first sentence and as I was reading through I couldn't help but hear Steve Martin's voice in my head. He should have starred in this story in a movie years ago. I often check to see if he's written anything else. He is so talented!

Martin Improves in Second Novel

Martin's second novel is a bit of an improvement over his first, but he still needs improvement to be taken seriously as a novelist. In The Pleasure of My Company, characters are more fleshed out than the dull caricatures in Shopgirl, Martin's first effort. Also, Martin didn't write himself into the book, as he so obviously did last time out with the Ray Porter character. Writing from the first-person perspective of Daniel Pecan Cambridge, the obsessive-compulsive protagonist, allows Martin to better unleash some of his droll observations on life in Southern California which seemed so out of place in the detached third-person perspective of Shopgirl. Also, Martin has learned to show action, especially conversations, instead of talking about it, even though he is still too overt with his character's feelings, not trusting his story to the telling detail. Still, with the exception of Martin's main character, most of the rest of the cast are two-dimensional props, or almost non-existent, as in the case of some family members who are not introduced at all until the final pages. The ending feels rushed, with Pecan's happily-ever-after character arc feeling a bit too pat. Like Shopgirl, it's an interesting mess, somewhat enjoyable while it lasts.

Fantastic Read!

I was very pleasantly surprised with this book! It hit all the right buttons. My husband can relate (somewhat) with this character, which made me laugh and CRY!! Must read - pure pleasure!

Is there something this man can't do?

Wow! How does he know what happens in the mind of an obsessive compulsive man? How is he able to write about the details so well? It¿s almost like he is obsessive himself. Wow! Amazing story! Amazing talent! Just plain genius. Steve Martin is a genius. I bet he is part of Mensa. This book should be read by everyone.

I loved this book!

Steve Martin did not let me down with his second book! I loved the primary charater and could identify with *some* of his flaws. If you read this Steve, please keep writing!

Great read, I didn't want it to end

This was a great story, and shows the imagination that Steve Martin has (I would have never guessed, I never really liked him as an actor). The main character is easy to relate to, I think that no matter how normal we think we are, we all have our own neurotic behaviours. I would have given it five stars, except it is too short, another two hundred pages would have been good.

A Weekend Read!

Martin proves himself, once again, as a talented storyteller. Flawed characters are realistic ones! Wonderful! Simply wonderful!

Dry, intelligent, funny

I really enjoyed this book. I don't have a ton of time and this was definately a quick read. I was impressed by Steve Martin's intelligence and also his knowledge of nerotic behavior (makes you wonder.) I thought it was very funny and a nice story line. Very light.

I hated It !

I do NOT recommend this book. Had it not been selected by monthly my book club, I probably would not have forced myself to finish it. Save your money!

Wry, charming, disarmingly sweet

Steve Martin's novella 'The Pleasure of My Company' is wryly comedic and winsomely sweet, a charming little puff of a story written with clear affectionate attention to detail and narrative voice by Steve Martin. With occasional sharp satirical jabs as life in Southern California, Martin gives us a neurotic, obsessive-compulsive hero who's as sweet as Forrest Gump and as endearingly loopy as a Larry McMurtry sidekick. This brief (less than 170 pages) and sprightly book is a one-night stand worth taking.

Never Enough, Steve.

I didn't really get it at first, but then I read it backwards, and now... well now I just can't seem to get enough of it.