An Object of Beauty

An Object of Beauty (2010) by Steve Martin. Martin tells the story of Lacey Yeager, a young art dealer, through the voice of Daniel Franks, an art writer. Lacey comes to New York as a young woman and quickly rises in the art world, thanks to a good eye for good art and plenty of chutzpah. She is lacking, however, in the personal relationships department. She uses men and tosses them aside, never falling in love herself. Her story is also the story of the art world in the '90s and 2000s -- the bubbles, the at-times inflated prices, the occasional recessions. The sweep of her story includes the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but those events make only a temporary impression on her. Martin shows a keen eye for human behavior, as well as an esoteric knowledge of art and the art world, in this book, which is nicely illustrated with a number of color prints of works of art that are discussed in the book. It's really a wonderful novel, but a little emotionally cold. Grade: A-