I recently “read” Steve Martin’s most recent novel The Pleasure of My Company. It’s an excellent book.
I use “read” in quotes, because I purchased the audio book instead of the written book. I’ve listened to only one audio book before (the first Harry Potter book which I snagged from KaZaA before the RIAA flooded the network a bunch of crap). This one was way better. Why? Because Steve Martin reads it!
Like his previous novella, The Pleasure of My Company is a story about a lonely man living in LA who seeks companionship. To say that the main character in is neurotic is an understatement. Asperger’s or OCD is more like it.
But Daniel Pecan Cambridge isn’t all crazy; he’s a true romantic at heart. Throughout much of the story he is admiring Zandy, Clarissa, and Elizabeth from afar, hoping that one day one of them will love him back.
The book is light and and charming. Unlike the Diamond Age, which I read last month, I didn’t need a dictionary to decode the language. Steve Martin reading it makes the book all the more enjoyable. Highly recommended.