Monday, October 24, 2005

steve martin wins the Mark Twain prize

Steve Martin has received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and this blog could not agree more. Forget the actor you know from The Jerk, LA Story or even Grand Canyon, it's Martin's writing that's brilliant. Cruel Shoes, a collection of short stories, is one of my top 10 favorite books of all time. He also wrote Picasso at the Lapin Agile (play), Pure Drivel (essays) and the novel Shopgirl, which became a movie starring Claire Danes.

this isn't Martin's first award for writing - he won the coveted Writers Guild award for his Cyrano de Bergerac-inspired screenplay, Roxanne.

I'm very proud to be a writer," Martin said. "I'm not trying to run away from 'comedian.' I love that. It's like the big umbrella of labels for me."

to hear Martin read the title story from Cruel Shoes, go here.

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