About The Book

Steve Martin’s hysterical antics and brilliant physical comedy have made him a star. But his credits also include work as a writer. He cowrote and starred in The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, and Three Amigos, and has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker. L.A. Story and Roxanne—which won the award for Best Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America—are both romantic comedies that demonstrate his original comic vision and talent for maintaining order in the zany worlds he creates.

In Roxeanne, his modernization of Cyrano de Bergerac, with its classic themes of unrequited love and mistaken identity, Martin asks whether looks outweigh charm and intellect in the game of love.

L.A. Story is Steve Martin’s West Coast answer to Woody Allen’s Manhattan, a hilarious, insider’s parody of Los Angeles that furnished Martin with one of his most original roles.

Praise

Roxanne:

“Behind the clownish make-up, Steve Martin gives a sweet and serious performance as a latter-day Cyrano de Bergerac in Roxanne. It’s easy to see why Mr. Martin, who wrote the film . . . was moved to reinvent this role. . . . Mr. Martin’s screenplay is bighearted and funny.” –The New York Times

“A warm, nimble, utterly contemporary modern romance. . . I can’t think of a current movie in which every element is in such balance: Martin seems unfettered, expansive, utterly at ease . . . there’s a tenderness to him that’s magnetic.” –Los Angeles Times

L.A. Story:

“L.A. Story has a completely original spirit. It’s wiggy yet deeply, helplessly romantic . . . . By placing L.A. at the center of his new movie, Martin is saying that the city encourages people to act out their own most eccentric selves. He lays out all of his own selves for us here, and, miraculously, they synthesize . . . . A mystifyingly funny experience.” –Los Angeles Times

“In LA. Story, Steve Martin rushes in where wise men fear to tread and makes merry sport with the city of angels. As both the writer and star, Martin brings a puckish sense of irony that sets the right tone of sunny, silly disenchantment . . . . It’s also Martin’s most personal film . . . .L.A. Story is giddy fun.” –Newswee

Awards

Winner of Best Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America – Roxanne