I am of the firm belief that every woman probably has some famous fantasy man who is far older than anyone with whom they'd have an actual relationship. Mine is Steve Martin. Don't judge. His white hair is HOTT. He has an amazing art collection. (Although, really? You OWN art? Good. Glad to see the poor didn't need to look at it anyway. But it appears that most of his collection is on loan to museum, so I guess whatever.) And he makes me laugh. And, apparently, he sees into the minds of fragile women in their late twenties.

This is the second book on the Great Book List of 2007 that I cheated and listened to on CD rather than reading it. Normally, I would feel guilty, but not this time. The book was unabridged and hearing Steve Martin reading it made me never want to turn it off. Yeah, I'll probably read it at some point, but I feel like I really "got it" from the audio.

My biggest problem with the audio book? I'm not sure the main character's name. Maribel? Maribelle? Mirabel? Mirabelle? I actually spent many minutes of my life pondering the correct spelling of her name.

I loved the book. If you've seen the movie and like it - or if you've seen the movie and didn't like it - okay, or for that matter, if you haven't seen the movie, I would really recommend reading it. It's about a thousand times better than the movie, mostly because a lot of the book takes place inside people's minds and that just never translates well to film.

It would be easy to assume that I wouldn't get the book. I mean, after all, I married my college sweetheart. I haven't spent any real amount of time in horrible relationships, sticking around because I didn't have the energy or ability to change my circumstances. But I think the story can resonate with anyone. Surely some aspect of one of these character's will resonate with you. Desperate just for someone to touch you? Depressed to the point of inability to "do life"? Finally aware that you've been an ass to every partner you've ever had? Desirous of someone for a reason you can't articulate? It's all there.

It was so much more than I would have expected a book by Steve Martin to be. It will be high on my recommendations list from now on.

Oh, yeah - Cagey recommended it, so thanks!