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Search - The Pleasure of My Company (Audio CD) (Unabridged)

The Pleasure of My Company - Audio CD - Unabridged
Author: Steve Martin

Readers expecting something zany, something crudely humorous from Steve Martin's second novel, The Pleasure of My Company, will discover much greater riches. While the book has a sense of humor, Martin moves everywhere with a gentler, lighter touch in this elegant little fiction that verges on the profound and poetic. Daniel Pecan Cambridge ... more »is the narrator and central consciousness of the novel (actually a novella). Daniel, an ex-Hewlett-Packard communique encoder, is a savant whose closely proscribed world is bounded on every side by neuroses and obsessions. He cannot cross the street except at driveways symmetrically opposed to each, and he cannot sleep unless the wattage of the active light bulbs in his apartment sums to 1,125. Daniel's starved social life is punctuated by twice-weekly visits from a young therapist in training, Clarissa; by his prescription pick-ups from a Rite Aid pharmacist, Zandy; and by his "casual" meetings with the bleach-blond real estate agent, Elizabeth, who is struggling to sell apartments across the street. But Daniel's dysfunctional routines are shattered one day when he becomes entangled in the chaos of Clarissa's life as a single mother. Taking care of Clarissa's tiny son, Teddy, Daniel begins to emerge from the safety of logic, magic squares, and obsessive counting. Martin's craftsmanship is remarkable. The tightly packed novella paints rich portraits with restraint and balance, including nothing extraneous to Daniel's world. The book does not try for pyrotechnics but is contented with a Zen-like simplicity in both prose and plot. Avoiding the crushing bleakness of much contemporary fiction, Martin insists through Daniel--a man haunted by horrors of his own making--that there is possibility for compassion, that broken lives can actually be healed.

Audio Review:

Steve Martin--mature, established author Steve Martin--seems to revisit THE JERK in this work, running his early hit movie through a Kafkaesque filter. Martin's protagonist, Daniel Pecan Cambridge, redefines the pitiful antihero--and we're not sure if we shouldn't fear him a little. An obsessive-compulsive loner with an eye for multifarious detail and nuance, Daniel evolves through absurdist misadventure into a healthier species of neurotic. Martin's read is spot-on; he never pushes too hard or reveals too much, allowing his story to be the star. This is a wise choice, for we actually do enjoy Daniel's company eventually, after seeing him through a lot of strangeness and ugliness. -- AudioFile

4 sound discs (5 hours)

Read by the author.

Audio Books swap for two (2) credits.

ISBN-13: 9781401390334
ISBN-10: 1401390331
Publication Date: 12/1/2007
Edition: Unabridged
Rating:

Currently 3/5 Stars.

3 stars, based on 20 ratings

Publisher: Hyperion
Book Type: Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Linda E. (txag80) - , reviewed The Pleasure of My Company (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on 1/14/2011 + 257 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Steve Martin has the heart of a poet and it rings out in this story of a man living with OCD. Don't expect crack-up arrow through the head humor. This is a bittersweet story of self awareness. The author reads it to perfection.

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Andrea D. (andrea35244) reviewed The Pleasure of My Company (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on 1/27/2020 + 5 more book reviews

Steve Martin is a surprisingly good writer. I was also surprised by the Happily-Ever-After resolution.

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Kim S. (Kims) reviewed The Pleasure of My Company (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on 9/22/2005 + 7 more book reviews

This is a very different story told in the first person about Daniel Pecan Cambridge and you really have to listen to it to understand what it's about. It's well narrated by Martin.

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Read All Book Reviews of "The Pleasure of My Company Audio CD Unabridged"

Genres:

Literature & Fiction >> Humor & Satire
Literature & Fiction >> General >> Contemporary

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