Best New Reading of 2004 : The Pleasure of My Company
Steve Martin is a comic genius. Sadly he has not made a comedy film of note for a long time. The last film of his that I thought truly brilliant was LA Story, a film that splits even his fans. It was thus with trepidation that I started reading The Pleasure of My Company. I need not have worried, the man is still a genius. The book is not a comic novel, it simply tells the story of Daniel who lives alone in his apartment, has a substantial collection of neuroses and is interested in meeting a suitable woman.
Daniel is a strange individual whose life is affected by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He can only cross streets at certain points, such as where driveways are exactly opposite each other. He can become obsessed on details such as finding new routes to the pharmacy, where one of the woman in his life works. He desperately wants to win a writing competition to find the “Most Average American” and spends hours crafting his entries. When he’s at home the total wattage of the lights which are on must always make up the same total, resulting in him turning lights on and off in different rooms to make sure things are as he wants them. Daniel is however likeable. Infuriating yes, but likeable. He gradually bends and tries to change in response to the events around him.
“The Pleasure of My Company” is a magnificent read. It has also done the job of reassuring me that Steve Martin is still a genius and that he’s not wasting his talent, he has just put it to different uses.