An object of beauty : a novel

Title:

Author:

Martin, Steve, 1945- author.

Summary:

Lacey Yeager, having arrived on the New York art scene as an intern at Sotheby's, uses her charm, wit, and ambition to move quickly up the cultural ladder, not caring whose heart she breaks and which laws she ignores in the process.

Audience:

Adult Follett Library Resources

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

295 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.

Genre:

Humorous fiction.

Subject Term:

Art -- New York (State) -- New York -- Fiction.

Art auctions -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Grand Central Pub.,

Publication Date:

2010

ISBN:

9780446573641

Publication Information:

New York : Grand Central Pub., 2010.

Call Number:

MARTIN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002243668	Adult Fiction	MARTIN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Lacey Yeager is young, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. Groomed at Sotheby's and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness. Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heights--and, at times, the dark lows--of the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.

Author Notes

Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas. He studied at Long Beach State College. He has acted in such films as The Jerk; Roxanne; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Bowfinger; Father of the Bride; Cheaper by the Dozen; and Shopgirl, which was adapted from a novel he wrote. He has won an Emmy for his comedy writing and Grammies for his comedy albums. He has made several appearances on The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live.

He has written several books including Shopgirl, Cruel Shoes, Pure Drivel, The Pleasure of My Company, and An Object of Beauty. He also wrote a play entitled Picasso at the Lapin Agile and a memoir entitled Born Standing Up. During the 1990s, he wrote various pieces for The New Yorker. In 2002, he adapted the Carl Sternheim play The Underpants, which ran Off-Broadway at Classic Stage Company and in 2008, co-wrote and produced Traitor. In 2013 he published a memoir entitled Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. This book tells the story of his beginnings as a magician and comedian at a young age and follows through his career lifetime.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Martin compresses the wild and crazy end of the millennium and finds in this piercing novel a sardonic morality tale. Lacey Yeager is an ambitious young art dealer who uses everything at her disposal to advance in the world of the high-end art trade in New York City. After cutting her teeth at Sotheby's, she manipulates her way up through Barton Talley's gallery of "Very Expensive Paintings," sleeping with patrons, and dodging and indulging in questionable deals, possible felonies, and general skeeviness until she opens her own gallery in Chelsea. Narrated by Lacey's journalist friend, Daniel Franks, whose droll voice is a remarkable stand-in for Martin's own, the world is ordered and knowable, blindly barreling onward until 9/11. And while Lacey and the art she peddles survive, the wealth and prestige garnered by greed do not. Martin (an art collector himself) is an astute miniaturist as he exposes the sound and fury of the rarified Manhattan art world. If Shopgirl was about the absence of purpose, this book is about the absence of a moral compass, not just in the life of an adventuress but for an entire era. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

The multitalented comedian, musician, and author of The Pleasure of My Company examines the New York fine arts scene from its late-1990s heyday to the present. Lacey Yeager is an up-and-coming art dealer who uses her beauty, ingenuity, and lack of social conscience to rise from lowly Sotheby's staffer to owner of an exclusive gallery. Daniel Franks, a mild-mannered freelance art writer and Lacey's one-time lover, chronicles her calculated transformation much like Nick Carraway does with Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby-as an outsider, fascinated by an enigmatic woman whom Daniel describes as "curiously, disturbingly guilt-free." Verdict While the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying and the character of Daniel is marginally pathetic, Lacey is an intriguing puzzle. Some readers may be shocked at the vulgar language and frank sexuality; others will find it honest. Plates of paintings mentioned in the text are a welcome addition. Martin's celebrity alone is reason to purchase this title; his agile musings on art and the business of art will give book clubs much to discuss. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/10.]-Christine Perkins, Bellingham P.L., WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.