CHICK LIT - IF ANDY WARHOL HAD A GIRLFRIEND

"IF ANDY WARHOL HAD A GIRLFRIEND" by Alison Pace is a book about Jane Laine. Jane Laine works in the most prestigious of New York art galleries, The Dick Reese Gallery, where she works for the odious Dick Reese himself. The novel opens with Jane discovering the infidelity of her long term boyfriend when she goes to his apartment, unannounced, to retrieve her perfect pair of black pants.

Soon though, when she expects to be fired for buying regular sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups rather than mini (something only a really odious boss would make such a dramatic scene about), she instead finds herself being packed up and accompanying world-renown sculptor Ian Rhys-Fitzsimmons on a 5 month trip around the globe to various art shows.

Jane is not particularly fond of Ian, she thinks him and his work are frauds, mostly because she does not understand his work. She finds his flashy manner of dress pretentious and she is rather put off by all the people who fawn all over him at each art fair.

As they travel from London to Rome, Chicago, and finally to Santa Fe, she begins to appreciate the experience and especially Ian more. For a world famous artist Ian is very thoughtful and down to earth; in London he makes sure to take Jane to the one restaurant she had expressed a desire to see, in Rome he sets up the art fair exhibit for her after Dick Reese unexpectedly arrives to terrorize her, in Chicago he proposes visiting "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" to make them forget about the bitter winter going on about them, and finally in Santa Fe he makes in through a Christmas dinner with her family. Its in Chicago that Jane final "gets" Ian's artwork, she realizes that it makes her happy and that surely the happiness it brings to people is the point.

I found most everything that went on in this book to be delightful; I laughed out loud many times and was left with a huge smile on my face when I finished. There are such tiny things that are just so sweet; Ian's obvious pleasure at the hours spent on the plane with Jane, especially when he reveals later in the novel how much he hates flying and his telling Jane that he picked her for the art fair when she was speculating that she had been sent because she wasn't valued or needed at the gallery.

Jane spends a lot of the book trying to find a new boyfriend, someone who she can take to dinner at her friend Kate's house in Miami (an inside joke with her friend Kate, only Jane's perfect guy would be invited to dinner at her house). She goes on lousy first dates, amazing first dates, and attempts to settle for the guy who had been into her for ages, but none of these potential relationships work out. And all the while Ian is there, being supportive of Jane's decisions and being patient waiting for her to get over her ex. As she comes to realizations about Ian's art she also comes to know herself and her heart more, culminating quite hilariously in a session in a Santa Fe sweat lodge.

Jane mother was quite a humorous addition to the novel. When Jane moved out of her parents house Jane's mother seemed to have turned her attention to her pet Schnauzers, giving them ridiculous names like Elijah Darjeeling and Fideleis McSween, so they feel like individuals. Jane's parents travel, with Elijah, to Santa Fe for Christmas, not to visit Jane, but to visit one of Elijah's offspring; her mother is then very put off when the people who have Elijah's puppy do not invite the whole family over for Christmas. At Christmas dinner though, the family partakes of a rather interesting tradition called Pass the Schnauzer, which involves passing Elijah around the table. When all of this is going on Jane is, of course, mortified, but Ian really takes in in stride.

In addition to Jane's mom and her Schnauzers, there are many delightful secondary characters in this novel; from Dick Reese, the boss from hell and all the other caricatures that inhabit the Dick Reese gallery, to people who frequent and travel from art fair to art fair along with Ian and Jane.

I enjoyed this book too much to relegate it to "predictable" but the ending is what you would expect it to be. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a few hours of Chick Lit enjoyment though.