No, he didn’t want to comment; forgive him, he said. He was, characteristically, friendly toward me.
“How is Lacey?” he asked.
“Well, she closed her gallery in June, and she’s moved to Atlanta.”
“I think I heard that,” he said.
“Too bad for her,” I said. “I can’t think of a personality less suited to becoming marginalized.”
Patrice drank a sip of afternoon champagne and turned toward the woman with him, speaking as he turned his head back to me, which meant he was addressing the air: “I think Lacey is the kind of person who will always be okay.”
68.
TWO MONTHS LATER, my article about Miami was published in ARTnews, and I received this handwritten card:
Dear Daniel,
It was so lovely to finally read an essay about art that did not mention money. Congratulations on a refreshing take on things, and I hope you’re doing well.
Tanya Ross
I could not tell if this was exactly what it was or something more. I wrote her back a handwritten card saying that it was nice to hear from her and that I had been working on a book, and if she had the time, I would love to get her comments. I couched the request as a favor, saying I could use her expertise to root out factual errors I might have made describing the workings of Sotheby’s and, of course, wanting her general reaction. She responded yes and sent me an address, which was the same as when I was seeing her. Which made me have hope that she was still living alone.
My real wish, of course, is to have her read this story and understand that my small crime is now the stuff of novels—which I’m hoping might ameliorate it—and to make it clear that my loss of her is the most damage that has been done in my eighteen years of knowing Lacey. If her response is not the one hoped for, I have thought of converting the book to nonfiction—which they tell me sells better—and leaving Lacey’s name unchanged. But I’m not sure if that would ruin her or make her famous. I will determine which to do at a later point.
I sent Tanya the manuscript, but I have not yet heard from her.
Also by Steve Martin
NOVELS
The Pleasure of My Company
Shopgirl
PLAYS
Picasso at the Lapin Agile
WASP
NONFICTION
Born Standing Up
Pure Drivel
Cruel Shoes
SCREENPLAYS
Shopgirl
Bowfinger
L.A. Story
Roxanne
The Jerk (coauthor)
Copyright
Sizes and dates of the works of art that appear in this book were provided by reputable sources and are accurate to the best of the author’s knowledge.
For all photo credits and copyright information, click here.
This book is a work of fiction. Any use of real names or places is done in a wholly fictitious manner and not to be taken literally. There was a young girl who modeled for Maxfield Parrish named Kitty Owen—incidentally, the granddaughter of William Jennings Bryan—but all references in this novel to Kitty Owen and her family, and all other characters in the book, are completely imaginary and not to be ascribed to any real people, living or deceased. Any resemblances to real people or events are a matter of coincidence.
Copyright (c) 2010 by 40 Share Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Grand Central Publishing
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First eBook Edition: November 2010
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-446-57366-5
Table of Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Part II
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Part III
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Photo Credits and Copyrights
Also by Steve Martin
Copyright