New books from Renaissance Man Steve Martin

Steve Martin

Geeze, this is already a big year for Steve Martin, and it’s only January! He was typically hilarious and perfect as Meryl Streep’s romantic interest in It’s Complicated, and in March he’ll co-host the Academy Awards with Alec Baldwin.

And now he can check off “book deal” from his 2010 to-do list. He has signed a deal with Grand Central to write Woman One, a novel which “examines the glamour and the subterfuge of the fine art world” in New York. The book will be released in November 2010.

Martin will also write a children’s book titled Late for School, based on a song from his album “New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.” (Watch him performing it live after the jump.) No word yet on a publication date. The book will pub in September. (Via New York Times.)

Related content: In 2001, BookPage reviewer Joanna Brichetto wrote that Martin’s novella Shopgirl will “shock” readers expecting to find “zany riffs and hilariously skewed observations” from the comedian. Instead, Shopgirl is a “sweet, courageous exploration of a young woman’s search for selfhood and love.”

What’s your favorite Steve Martin role? Inspector Clouseau? Author? Banjo player?

Steve Martin performing “Late to School”:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=--MZsZTkvcA]