Steve Martin’s The Pleasure of My Company

Daniel Pecan Cambridge lives in a small apartment building, and spends a lot of mornings making sure the wattage of all lit lightbulbs in his home is equal to 1125. He makes “exciting” trips to Rite Aid to observe Zandy the pharmacist from afar, and conversates seldomly with his upstairs neighbor, Philippa. Even with the lack of excitement in the life of the main character, Martin manages to engage the reader in a very interesting story. The Pleasure of My Company is a fictional account of exactly how OCD feels. Daniel Cambridge gets so caught up in his OCD that he forgets to look for love, to keep a job, and even to contact his grandmother. It’s clear early on how severe it is,

“My counting habit continued into college, where its real import, purpose, and power were revealed to me. The class assignment seemed trifling, but the irresistible counting work seemed vital not only to my well-being but to the world’s. I added textbook page numbers together, divided them by the total page numbers, and using my own formulas, redistributed them more appropriately. Page 262 of Science and Environment could become a more natural page 118, and I would razor-cut the leaves from their binding and rearrange them to suit my calculations.”

But Daniel’s life seems to take a turn for the better when he applies for the Most Average American essay contest. Martin manages to make even the most minute parts of life seem very important, and I found myself laughing through a lot of the book. Daniel was so like-able, despite all of his odd quirks. I enjoyed the novel immensely.