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kbratten 's review for:
An Object of Beauty
by Steve Martin
There are parts of this book written very well, incredibly moving. Not the plot, nor the characters, so by the end the well-written prose had nothing to stand on and ended up being forgettable.
I might have liked the book more if: a) it were written from a different perspective. The friend filling in the blanks side of the story was odd and cumbersome. The friend was so loosely connected it was almost distracting; b) I cared more about art. I love art, and was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes look at the art market, and enjoyed most descriptions of the action, intrigue and total arbitrariness of it all - but to me, the premise shouldn't have been the best part; or c) if the most important scenes/developments were given greater weight than general exposition. There was an unusually even (slow) pace throughout the book. Action happened, it just didn't feel like action, which perhaps was intentional, but it left me waiting for emphasis to be placed somewhere else, which left me dissatisfied by the important plot points.
Wouldn't recommend unless it's free and you're without other options. I will, however, check out Steve Martins other novels. I loved his Autobiography and believe, reading this book, he writes well. Maybe others are better put together.
I might have liked the book more if: a) it were written from a different perspective. The friend filling in the blanks side of the story was odd and cumbersome. The friend was so loosely connected it was almost distracting; b) I cared more about art. I love art, and was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes look at the art market, and enjoyed most descriptions of the action, intrigue and total arbitrariness of it all - but to me, the premise shouldn't have been the best part; or c) if the most important scenes/developments were given greater weight than general exposition. There was an unusually even (slow) pace throughout the book. Action happened, it just didn't feel like action, which perhaps was intentional, but it left me waiting for emphasis to be placed somewhere else, which left me dissatisfied by the important plot points.
Wouldn't recommend unless it's free and you're without other options. I will, however, check out Steve Martins other novels. I loved his Autobiography and believe, reading this book, he writes well. Maybe others are better put together.