An Object of Beauty
Steve Martin

Hachette Book Group
November 2010/ ISBN 978-1-60788-612-9
Fiction
Amazon

Reviewed by Leslie Halpern

Steve Martin’s third novel, An Object of Beauty, is itself quite beautiful. Elegant prose, colorful dialogue, and exquisite attention to detail combine to make this book an artistic curiosity. The story concerns a young art dealer, Lacey Yeager, whose good looks, charm, knowledge, and promiscuity propel her career at various art galleries. Although not a particularly likeable character, she’s interesting enough to warrant the attention. The narrator, Daniel (a long-time friend and former lover), pieces together fragments of their times together and fills in the gaps with theories and guesses of other events in Lacey’s life.

An art critic, Daniel figuratively admires her like a beautiful painting, while Lacey in turn literally immerses herself in New York’s art world. Paid for her critical eye and discerning judgment, she spends her days admiring one object of beauty and then devaluing another. Determining what makes art beautiful (is it moonlight reflected on the water?) and valuable (does the artist alone make it worth something?) are recurring themes.

In this nearly 8-hour audio book, actor-director Campbell Scott does his best to bring the characters (and their various nationalities) to life. With so much narration, poetic description, and intellectual discussion of art, and so little actual story, An Object of Beauty ultimately fails to fully engage the emotions. Readers may learn quite a bit about the New York art scene, but aren’t likely to care much about Lacey or Daniel at the book’s conclusion.

Like a museum painting hung in a gallery with ropes distancing the public from getting too close, the novel portrays characters, scenes, and landscapes that evoke only sensual and intellectual appreciation. Without the emotional connection, the book remains an artistic curiosity rather than a masterpiece.

Reviewer's Note: Unabridged Audio Book / 7 CDs / Approx 8 Hrs / Profanity, Sexuality