An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

There are two stories in this book--the first is the life, career, and values of a young woman, Lacey Yeager. When the book opens she is working at Sotheby's in an entry level position, learning the ropes of the art auction world in new York City. She is a modern woman, more attached to her vanity and her ambition than she is able to form intimate relationships, and therefore is not altogether interesting to me. The author has a penchant for female characters of this sort--it is unclear to me if he finds them attractive or repugnant, or this is just women as he sees them, but these are not people I want to know. Even at a casual party, I would go out of my way to walk away from someone like Lacey. We share no values. What makes her interesting to others is of no interest to me.

The art world is the second story, and that one holds more interest for me. Not that I am the least bit interested in the collection of art, nor in the people who do so at the level depicted in this book, but it is an intersting world, and there are paintings of real beauty amidst all the hub bub of new artists and the chase to be selling and buying the hottest new artist. there are twenty two paintings reproduced within the book--they are gorgeous, and there is a back story to each and every one of them, so for someone with limited knowledge (such as myself) one can learn from this. The other book I read this year that was not a graphic novel per se, but had integral illustrations was 'A Visit from the Goon Squad', which I was not as fond of as the critics, but I do like the trend of adding some graphics to a classically told story.