Amazon.com Review
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 is the narrator and central consciousness of the novel (actually a novella). Daniel, an ex-Hewlett-Packard communiqué 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. --Patrick O'Kelley
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
As one would expect from an actor and comedian of Martin's caliber, his reading perfectly captures the quirky, kind-hearted, neurotic personality of his protagonist, Daniel Pecan Cambridge. Martin reads with a precision and reverence for language that matches Daniel's own, and he eschews using distinct voices for his secondary characters. Indeed, the sole voice here is Daniel's, which suits the story's narrow focus. Daniel has a fear of eight-inch-high curbs, a need to have 1,125 watts burning in his Santa Monica apartment at all times, an inability to tell his true age and a crush on the real estate broker who shows apartments across the street (though he has never met her). He also may be the winner of a "Most Average American" contest. As his life is brushed by those around himâ€"his neighbor Brian, Brian's girlfriend, Philipa, student social worker Clarissa and her son, Teddy-he gradually begins to overcome his own barriers and limitations. The humor in this tale is subtle, but Martin does a fine job of bringing it out and of lending his protagonist a smooth, personable voice that's easy on the ear and suitable for a Most Average American.
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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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