Rating: 
Summary: A Pleasure to Read
Review: Most of the reviewers describe this book very accurately. It really was a pleasure to read. It was humorous and touching. It was so much better than the vast majority of books I read, that I had to give it 5 stars. If you are reading this review trying to decide whether to read it or not, do yourself a favor, don't debate any longer--read it!
Rating:
Summary: Okay, I give...
Review: When I saw this at the book store, I chuckled smugly: Gosh, I wonder how this guy got his book deal, and what unknown author did he push off the shelf with his big name and the publisher's money? And, so, not wanting to put any money in the pocket of a millionaire celebrity 'writer,' I checked it out at the library. Damn! It's so totally brilliant: sad, and real and exquisitely written. A great novel. I'm now purchasing a copy. Damn!
Rating: 
Summary: Martin's hero is a nut, and not just a "Pecan".
Review: I can't say I really enjoyed "The Pleasure of My Company", and much preferred Martin's first work, "Shopgirl". I'm not sure that many people would read this book, if it weren't for the author's fame in comedy. But it is worth a read, particularly if you know someone that has OCD, which generally escalates as people reach the age where they have to begin their own, independent lives. Martin has a light touch with his humor, although he has difficulty with the resolution of his stories, preferring to paint the characters in depth, and then just fade away. Since he can do that in comedy, but not in novels, he is not as successful here. The hero of Steve Martin's new novel (novella? only 163 pages) suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and has a tad of the autistic savant thrown in for good measure. Daniel's somehow ended up living alone in Santa Monica... "Santa Monica, California, where I live, is a perfect town for invalids, homosexuals, show people, and all other formerly peripheral members of society. Average is not the norm here." Living alone, Daniel doesn't have a job anymore, although he used to use his skills as a math wizard at Hewlett-Packard, where he was employed as a business communique encoder. He had to leave that job when he weaned himself off his meds and he could no longer allow himself to create a code whose ultimate end was to be decoded. Now Daniel lives on public assistance, with help from periodic cash infusions from his Granny. There are several wonderful treatises on Daniel's trips to the Rite-Aid, which is "splendidly antiseptic". We suffer through his neuroses every time he steps outside his apartment, in trips which must be planned perfectly, to not upset his equilibrium. Much of his inner voicing is consumed with his attraction to a variety of females who slide in and out of the periphery of his existence. Martin has a writing style that throws out the edge of Daniel's obsessions in a disarming way. "The next morning, I decided to touch every corner of every copying machine at Kinko's...", and he treats his hero gently, with feeling. Somewhat funny, and somewhat poignant, Daniel's life escalates quickly at the end of the book, in an almost too pat fashion, but then, without the happy ending, it would be pointless to explore Daniel's world and walk away unhappy. Recommended with reservations - don't expect it to be wildly funny. If you have or know someone with OCD, it offers a rare insight through humor.
Rating:
Summary: BUNCHES AND BUNCHES OF STARS!!!
Review: I L0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0VED this book! The first page engages the reader and keeps a tight hold of them throughout the book with only a slight interruption towards the end as one pauses to think, "Darn, I'm almost at the end." The story is poignantly written with an undercurrent of sweet gentleness and compassion that Mr. Martin has mastered as his own unique style. It's also hysterically funny! It's the first book I've read where I found myself laughing obnoxiously out loud in quet places. I've never read slapstick moments so clearly that I was able to see the hilarious action as if I were watching it on a movie screen. That's talent! Most of the side splitting moments are so hysterical because our hearts go out to the main character, Daniel, who was written succinctly and brilliantly. I felt a kinship with Daniel and as I was laughing at him, I found I was really laughing at myself and perhaps some of my own OCD behaviors. In between the humor and gentle, soulful moments are layers of thoughtful, intelligent insights presented skillfully as an integral part of the story. Steve Martin is a fabulous writer. THIS BOOK ROCKS! I couldn't give the book as many stars as I would have liked, so here are some more: stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, stars, ad infinitum.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most skillful writers anywhere
Review: "Pleasure" was not only a fun read, but a satisfying one as well. Tightly written, he doesn't lose his way at any point in the story.
As a streak of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder runs through my family's history (though nowhere near as severe as the protagonist's) I can say that Steve Martin described the inner world of those with the disorder clearly; in particular that they aren't dumb or mentally divorced from reality, even if they do act oddly at times. But this isn't a dissection of OCD--it's a funny, interesting and humane story about a life on its edge & a chance at self-redemption. I read it straight through on a Saturday night & slept through Sunday!
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure
Review: "The Pleasure of My Company" is such an amusing book, it is wonder Martin has not written more fiction. I really enjoyed reading Martin's other fiction work "Shipgirl." While this book lacked many of the laugh out loud funny parts of "Shopgirl" it is a more than adequate sequel in the Steve Martin fiction collection.
Daniel Pecan Cambridge is a unique character. He has an irrational fear of curbs, he rarely leaves his apartment except to go to places he is most familiar, he must always have 1125 watts of light, and possesses an assortment of other idiosyncrasies that develop as you read the book. His life is thrown out of whack when he begins leaving his apartment more frequently. While leaving his apartment, he develops two failed romances, becomes a temporary foster father, and wins an essay contest. This is an eventful storyline for a man uncomfortable in leaving his apartment which throws his life into a humorous series of conflicts.
Martin show skill in his writing in "The Pleasure of My Company" with diatribes against such popular cultural icons as the energy drink Red Bull. More importantly, Martin creates a charming and likable character in Daniel Pecan Cambridge. It is a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: Superstitionmania is a recipe for dull entertainment
Review: The protagonist is a victim of obsessive-compulsive behavior. But that's an awkward term and I wish they'd call it something like "superstition psychosis" or "superstitionmania". Steve made a really dumb mistake to subject his audience to this supernaturally boring subject-matter. At one point the protagonist describes the shopping-mall habitues with the following line: "Their general uniformity was interrupted only by their individual variety." It that's supposed to be some sorta non-sequitur joke, let it be known that it bored me to tears.
FAB QUOTE #1: "The thing I like about Clarissa is that she starts talking immediately, which gives me the opportunity to watch her without saying anything."
FAB QUOTE #2: "The problem was, I was taping my long shot for the CRIME SHOW, in which I was supposedly being interrogated by two cops on the street ... We were given no dialog to say, but we had been asked to spout gibberish while a narrator talked over us. They weren't recording us, they just wanted our mouths to be moving to make it look like we were talking. One 'policeman' way saying: 'I'm talking, I'm talking, I'm moving my mouth, it looks like I'm talking.' And then the other one would say: 'Now I'm talking, I'm moving my mouth like I'm talking.' Then they would say to me: 'Now you talk, just move your mouth.' So I would say: 'I'm talking, I'm talking, I'm talking back to you' and so on."
Rating:
Summary: Martin's Writings Always a "Pleasure"
Review: I'd actually rate this three-and-a-quarter stars, which I know is getting a little excessive in the specificity department, but three doesn't do the craft justice while 3.5 indicates a level of enjoyment and involvement that wasn't quite there. The OCD-riddled protagonist, Daniel Pecan Cambridge, comes off fairly creepy at first, but Martin artfully turns the reader around in an almost imperceptible transition. Daniel's awareness of the ridiculousness of his limitations -- as well as those of others -- and his eloquent, non-judgmental articulation of such soon makes him relatively winsome. A reviewer quoted on the jacket calls Martin's writing "wryly omniscient and ruthlessly truthful" -- that's exactly what I thought (without having hit upon that perfect phrase) when reading "Shopgirl" (actually what that reviewer was referring to), and that incredibly perceptive yet unselfconscious perspective comes out moreso about halfway in -- likely intentionally for a more meaningful character arc. I would clarify that "ruthless" is more in the unflinching directness than in the intent.
Rating: 
Summary: The Pleasure Is Ours!
Review: Excellent Read. I loved it so much more than "Shopgirl". The main character is a riot and his mis-adventures just make you root for him.
Rating:
Summary: I had boogers coming out of my nose...
Review: ...the level of hysterity could only be measured in some new abstract scale.
I was troubled at first by all the references to secretly administering prescription medication until I recognized this as a metaphor for the current political climate.
My favorite part is where the protaginist, or is he the antagonist?, competes against himself in a contest, the inherent dualism in this process seemed likely to disintegrate and then reintegrate, like Jimmy Nuetron's dog Goddard playing dead, until we found ourselves lying satisfied at the end of the book whole again.
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