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An Object of Beauty
An Object of Beauty: A Novel | Steve Martin
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.
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Rachel.Rencher
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Pickpick

Just finished this book! I'd give it 4/5 stars. It was fun to learn about the NYC art scene, but I think it dragged a bit in the middle as the author was trying to be subversive about the protag's criminal behavior. I thought a major plot point had been dropped until I got to like the last 50 or so pages. 😂 Would still totally recommend this one!

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Sweettartlaura
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Pickpick

JCO‘s blurb says most of it 🙌🏻
Let me also say:
More & more I see many lucky breaks are a sham - they are crimes, to varying degrees of legality.
So then I root for characters like Lacey. She is a self-made woman in the rarified stratum of the art world. She‘s got the knowledge; she put in the hours; she fosters the relationships. She just needs cash.
By juxtaposing her rise & fall with the housing bubble & stock market crash of 2008...

Sweettartlaura ... Martin emphasizes the speculative nature of businesses other than art, and reminds you of how few paid for the havoc they wreaked.
Read this book. Take all that in.
And then decide how you feel about Lacey.
4y
Liatrek He is such an amazing writer! 4y
Sweettartlaura @Liatrek I agree completely - I hadn‘t read him in a few years, and was so happy to find his talents persist ♥️ 4y
38 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Shamrox
An Object of Beauty | Steve Martin
Pickpick

Light, enjoyable, and beautiful. Possibly a touch lacking in conflict or events, but I liked the meandering.

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JoyBlue
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Pickpick

This was a reread, pictured with the beauty who was my Granny.

readordierachel What a lovely photo! 6y
Liatrek Loved this book! I really enjoy Steve Martin books. 6y
JoyBlue @ReadOrDieRachel Thank you! 💙 6y
JoyBlue @Liatrek So do I! 📚😀 6y
85 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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Dogearedcopy
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Pickpick

🎧 This novel is basically a love letter about NYC and the art scene using the character of Lacy Yeager as the expositional device. Lacy is a beautiful but emotionally enigmatically woman who works her way up from the bins at Sotheby‘s to owning her own gallery... This is a novel that settles into you as opposed to knocking you out but is nicely written nonetheless. 👇

Dogearedcopy Campbell Scott as audiobook narrator, expertly disappears, leaving the listener with *the story* - a talent which is seemingly becoming a lost art (no pun intended.) When you do hear him, he has a faint echo of the author in inflection, but nothing so boorish as mimicry. Understated narration that matches this book‘s voice perfectly. (edited) 6y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk This has been sitting my shelf forever and I really need to get to it. I loved 6y
28 likes2 comments
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Dogearedcopy
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🎧 I‘ll start this backlist title (about a young woman who goes to work at an art auction house in NYC) tomorrow while I‘m hauling things over to our storage locker.

It‘s been sitting on a drive for years but I‘m determined to listen a good number from my TBL queues this year!

I‘m not sure why the image for this came up so lo-res 🤔

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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
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TBR #Shelfie Part 1 - Realistic and Non-Fiction on top. Weirdy Weird Weird and Otherwise Uncategorizable on bottom.

Hey, I‘ve read The Violent Century and it was great! #RiotGrams

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GidgetsTreasures75
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Pickpick

10-22-17: 27th finished book of 2017!

DivaDiane Would you recommend this or one of his others to start with? I'm not at all surprised that he's a good writer. I've always admired him. 6y
GidgetsTreasures75 I would recommend Shopgirl first. That is my favorite and I feel like it is a good starter because it is shorter and there is a great movie adaptation starring him and Claire Danes. @DivaDiane (edited) 6y
3 likes1 stack add2 comments
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GidgetsTreasures75
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10-14-17: Books in Nature. I'm so far behind because I was waiting to get some Nature for this book to be photographed in! #bookriot #riotgram #booksinnature #anobjectofbeauty #stevemartin

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GidgetsTreasures75
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10-12-17: Day 12: Book & Library Card #bookriot #riotgram #bookandlibrarycard #anobjectofbeauty

2 likes1 stack add
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andrew61
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#bookhaul the town where i work has a great library and has opened a shop selling off stock. Paperbacks 50p and a few at 10p. Here was my haul from yesterday, went a bit crazy but these books needed a good home. ☺

Leftcoastzen They absolutely need a good home !You are doing the right thing!😃 6y
28 likes1 comment
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GidgetsTreasures75
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7-8-17: Got this at the library book store for $1.60!!! Such a great find!📚

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SaraBeagle
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Books in my hotel room!

Sha0102 Nice 7y
15 likes2 comments
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Erynecki
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Picked up a stack of books at a Friends of the Library bookshop.

BookMusings The Last Lecture is an amazing book 😍 7y
Erynecki @BookMusings just finished it! Can you believe it was published ten years ago? I remember when his talk went viral. 7y
BookMusings @Erynecki ten years. Crazy! 7y
9 likes3 comments
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Tex2Flo
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One of my favorite contemporary Renaissance men. Love his banjo playing, too.

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DoubleLane
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Just picked this book up from Mutiny Cafe over on South Broadway. Bought some stickers and read some comic books, meet up with a friend for pizza. Lovely night in Denver ✨ #DenversBookLovers #Mutiny Cafe

Nebklvr Love denver 7y
15 likes1 comment
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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
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#shelfie With a few exceptions, front row is To Be Read and back row is favorites. Childhood favorites on top, then non- and realistic fiction, then steampunk, superheroes, and weird, then fantasy. Science fiction not pictured. #riotgrams

23 likes1 stack add
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indigotima
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Christmas eve #hidingfromBarbara

4 likes1 stack add
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drokka
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YAAAAAAS! My fave Dickinson poem is in the book of poems. I'm a fridge magnet & postcard nut, are perfect. The key chain is a postal replica - very cool. I knew Steve Martin wrote, but I'd never read any of how work - than you so much @Louise for that! The subject of commodification of art is right up my alley. My anthro thesis was on the commodification of media. @Louise it's like you know me!#SecretSantaGoesPostal #WinterSolsticeBookExchange

Reviewsbylola What an awesome gift!! 7y
TheLondonBookworm How amazing 😍😍😍😍 7y
ValerieAndBooks An Object of Beauty is good! All 👍👏 7y
See All 10 Comments
auntie_jenn i am sitting in Amherst as i read this! @Louise 7y
Louise @drokka I am so happy to hear that these gifts resonate with you! Your notes on @BookishMarginalia's form were very helpful in gaining a idea of your sensibility, plus spending time on your Litsy feed. Then it was a matter of choosing from the heart: "What do I most wish to share with @drokka?" ❤ 7y
Louise @auntie_jenn You are just a snowball's throw away from me, then! Are you from Amherst or just visiting? 7y
LeahBergen 😍😍😍 7y
Gissy Everything is so beautiful! I like the book too! 🎄🎅🏼🎁📚🎉🎉🎉👏👏😍 7y
auntie_jenn @Louise i work at UMass, live in SHadley! 7y
Louise @auntie_jenn Hello, neighbor! I'm in Pelham! 7y
86 likes10 comments
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beccaeve
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Day 8 of #SeasonsReadings2016: #ArtRelatedBook
I'm behind on the December photo challenge so I'm catching up. Pardon the post spam. This has been in my TBR forever. I really need to move it up there list.

@RealLifeReading

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katedensen
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Pickpick

Did you guys know that Steve Martin (who, by the way, dated Cindy Sherman) is a really amazing novelist? I read this one, which is about an up-an-coming It Girl in the NYC art scene, years ago and absolutely loved it. The story spans from the 1990s to the early 2000s, and includes 9/11 and the morally questionable protagonist's reaction to it. Amazing novel--can't recommend it enough.

#artrelatedbooks #booksaboutart #SeasonsReadings2016

LauraBeth He is so incredibly talented 😀 7y
SusanInTiburon I loved Shop Girl.❤️️ 7y
Lacythebookworm I did not know he dated Cindy Sherman?!? What a neat bit of trivia! ☺️ 7y
katedensen @LauraBeth Agreed! His autobio (Born Standing Up) is the "B" on my #LitsyAtoZ. @SusanInTiburon I've never read it! It's been on my #tbr forever. @Lacythebookworm #themoreyouknow ?? 7y
43 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Liatrek
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#seasonsreadings2016 I loaned my copy of this book out because it was so good. Steven Martin so talented! This book was such an interesting read giving a glimpse into the world of Art dealing. He included pictures of the art work in the book too and the lead female character was not your typical fictional woman. I've have picked up two more of his books after reading this one.

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ValerieAndBooks
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In "An Object of Beauty", a novel by Steve Martin about the art world, a #realliveperson shows up in one chapter and discusses art with Lacey (main character). John Updike died just before this book was published. I liked this book because I'm artsy fartsy like that (and it includes some color illustrations of art!) but can see how those not into art might not. ETA: I don't see this pic as a spoiler as it doesn't affect the overall plot.

53 likes6 stack adds
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Jennick2004
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Mehso-so

I was not very impressed by this book. I guess maybe because I am not part of the "art world", but there was just not enough of a plot for me to follow. It wasn't terrible by any means but I wouldn't put it on a list of recommendations.

Louise I actually enjoyed this one. I hear what you're saying about the plot. But for me, the pleasure was in getting an inside look at the high-flying art world. I thought it was a powerful moment when the main character saw a piece of art as a "commodity" for the first time, rather than as an object of beauty. 8y
Jennick2004 Very true! It was interesting...just not enough of a story to keep me involved lol 8y
5 likes2 comments
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Jennick2004
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How am I supposed to get home and read my book when there's a train ten miles long?!

Louise Fate can be so cruel...! 😂 8y
4 likes1 comment
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Jennick2004
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Jennick2004

Does anybody happen to have a list of the September photo challenge? Realized I forgot to take a screenshot of it and would like to join in the fun 😁

Now off to see if the second half of this book is any better than the first...

Louise I didn't know there was a list one could photograph. Wow, that would be useful! 8y
3 likes1 comment
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Jennick2004
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Not actually book related but I figured you could all appreciate this amazing sculpture at a building my hubby helped design as much as I did! 💗

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Jennick2004

Not actually book related but I figured you could all appreciate this amazing sculpture at a building my hubby helped design as much as I did! 💗

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Jennick2004
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Having trouble getting into this one but hopefully it will pick up soon! Took some sinus meds so gonna read til I pass out 😂

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Jennick2004
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Wearing my new pjs, a/c on...ready to read!

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Jennick2004
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Rainy day equals great time for snuggles and reading!

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Jennick2004
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90 degrees outside and no a/c...so book and hard soda in front of the fan it is!

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Jennick2004
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About to start this one I picked up at a discount store...anybody read it?

Well-ReadNeck I read it a while back, can't remember specifics other than general idea of the main character, but I really like Steve Martins writing and my recollection about this one is positive. (Sorry so vague, hope that's helpful anyway) 8y
2 likes1 stack add1 comment