鈥淣umber One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions,鈥� by Steve Martin with drawings by Harry Bliss (Celadon):
Between the covers of this surprisingly thin memoir are truffles of humor from comedian Steve Martin鈥檚 movie career illustrated by cartoonist Harry Bliss. The book is a sweet and smooth treat but ultimately unsatisfying.
It is a tempting concept: Martin revisits his first starring role, in 鈥淭he Jerk鈥� (1979), and the more than 40 movies that followed. But his choice to offer anecdotes on only a dozen of them and skip the rest is disappointing.
Instead of providing a charming twist on the standard memoir, Bliss鈥� drawings come off as padding. More than half the pages are his one-frame cartoons, the 鈥渙ther diversions鈥� promised in the title. At least they鈥檙e amusing enough to accomplish their mission.
Indeed, some of the funnier moments in Martin鈥檚 memoir come from other people. His mother once called to tell him: 鈥淪ome friends of ours went to the movies last weekend and they couldn鈥檛 get in anywhere, so they went to see yours, and they loved it!鈥� The director Mike Nichols summed up Martin鈥檚 movie career in saying, 鈥淵ou always aim high at something low.鈥� Actor Michael Caine learned early on who was making the real money in Hollywood: Actors decorated their homes with pictures of themselves; on producers鈥� walls were Van Goghs and Monets.
That鈥檚 right 鈥� 鈥淣umber One Is Walking鈥� doesn鈥檛 lack humor, insight or Martin鈥檚 ironic take on life, but it does lack depth. He comes closest when he writes: 鈥淚 made more than 40 movies, barely pausing to breathe, and here鈥檚 why: I believed I had to make 40 to get five good ones.鈥�
Revisiting, even briefly, a personal and popular triumph like 鈥淩oxanne鈥� (1987) is welcome. So might have been Martin's thoughts on the risky musical 鈥淧ennies from Heaven鈥� (1981). Fans might wonder why Martin made the bland 鈥淧ink Panther鈥� and 鈥淐heaper by the Dozen鈥� films in the 2000s instead of writing more edgy original scripts like the one for the underrated comedy 鈥淏owfinger鈥� (1999). Easy to say but hard to do? Tell us more.
If someone with a sense of the ironic set out to write a blurb, he might say: 鈥淩eading 鈥楴umber One is Walking鈥� was the funniest 35 minutes of my life this week. I wish it had been 45.鈥�
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Douglass K. Daniel is the author of 鈥淎nne Bancroft: A Life鈥� (University Press of Kentucky).
Douglass K. Daniel, The Associated Press
