Book Review | Book Chatter

I was really looking forward to Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, by Steve Martin. I met Steve Martin when I was 7 years old. This was during the filming of The Jerk and I remember thinking afterward what an interesting life he must lead. I was anxious to read more about him and hunkered down with his book on a flight to Vegas.

The flight was short and so was the book. I breezed through it in no time and was disappointed that he spent so little time on the big milestones of his career. His appearance on SNL (Saturday Night Live) really put him on the map (for me) and he spent very little time on that. Hardly mentioned The Jerk at all and that was a big movie for him at that time.

Although I found the tidbits of info interesting..they were just that, TIDBITS and left me wanting more. I did not get a good feel for who he is now and he is now an accomplished author, playwright, etc. So much was left unsaid.

Anyway.. Steve Martin fans will enjoy it, but will end the book wanting more.

I just finished our book group pick for this month. It was readable but left no surprises. The story is told by Mona Lisa herself and although the characters seemed quite rich, the plot left a lot to be desired. Here is the synopsis from Barnes & Noble:

“Florence, April 1478: The handsome Giuliano de’ Medici is brutally assassinated in Florence’s magnificent Duomo. The shock of the murder ripples throughout the great city, from the most renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to a wealthy wool merchant and his extraordinarily beautiful daughter, Madonna Lisa. More than a decade later, Florence falls under the dark spell of the preacher Savonarola, a fanatic who burns paintings and books as easily as he sends men to their deaths. Lisa, now grown into an alluring woman, captures the heart of Giuliano’s nephew and namesake. But when Guiliano, her love, meets a tragic end, Lisa must gather all her courage and cunning to untangle a sinister web of illicit love, treachery, and dangerous secrets that threatens her life. Set against the drama of 15th Century Florence, I, Mona Lisa is painted in many layers of fact and fiction, with each intricately drawn twist told through the captivating voice of Mona Lisa herself.”

Read it if you are a fan of historical fiction and enjoy a bit of mystery strewn in with romance.

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