A NYRB classic, Babitz in her witty singular voice offers up Los Angeles and Hollywood of the Sixties and Seventies, not long after my first enchanted visit, and her incomparable portraits and badass tales. I had a good time with this book. ( )

Babitz at her best is a great writer, and there are a number of essays in here that are compelling and pack a serious punch. They look at the world, dissect it, and look some more. Unrelenting, but not cruel, curious, not vicious. Read it. ( )

eve babitz you are everything to me ( )

I loved Eve Babitz’s novel, Eve’s Hollywood, which came out in 1974 and captured her fans of all sorts, as she exposed the 1960s through mostly the L.A. scene, all from the inside. In that book, she casually dropped famous names from rock music, the art scene, as well as some of the biggest film stars, not as dry reporting, but from her personal and legendary experience. She was linked “romantically” (as the press of that time wrote) with so many stars. She was drinking heavily, partying hardy, dropping all manner of drugs, and very active sexually, as she was on her way to becoming a legend.

The style of that previous book was looser and much more scattered than Slow Days, Fast Company, which while still describing the excesses of the 1960s and 70s, is better written. Yet, while containing a more refined style of writing, I have to say that if I’d read this title first, I’m not sure I would have read more of her work, as I so loved the wildness of what she was living and writing. In a way, I miss some of the excesses and the pure chaos of the first book, but I still loved this book. She will be in the middle of describing and explaining a scene, when she will drop killer lines that are so clever, wild, and unexplained, but that fit the story perfectly. I’ll come back to this review after I reflect on the book some more. ( )

I got bored with this book and stopped halfway through. It wasn't agonizing to read, but it didn't grab me. The writing meanders around, and I didn't grasp the stylings to which others have affectionately alluded. I'll probably finish it later. ( )