Eve Babitz

Sophie, a twenty-something Jim Morrison groupie gliding through a golden existence in L.A., and Lola, a German immigrant who has settled in Hollywood, know that while Los Angeles is constantly changing, it is essentially eternal. The two women dazzle - one with the promises of youth, the other with the fulfilment of nostalgia - as they wend their way through the pink sunsets and the palm trees of Los Angeles. Living out their addictively decadent lives, Sophie and Lola are cult writer Babitz's literary embodiment of the iconic L.A. Woman - more than in part inspired by her own wild and hedonistic youth.

L.A. Woman

jennifer 

joan didion but more narrative and less prose. 

“do i have to be anything?”

maybe it’s not a bad thing to live in the moment and chase grandeur without thought of consequence but it’s not something easily afforded without specific circumstances.

Imogen west

I will always love Eve and her dry wit, but the initial flow of this book was quite hard to get into.

Devin Mainville

This book will not be for everyone, but I absolutely loved it. I’ve always been drawn to this type of character – wild, carefree, stylish and endlessly entertaining; think Penny Lane, Edie Sedgwick and Holly Golightly. And now I can add Sophie or, more accurately, Eve Babitz.

This “novel” is heavily influenced by Babitz’s own life and it doesn’t have a plot so much as a vibe. A Southern California in the 60s vibe which is basically the only vibe I want all summer. Ok, I’ll stop saying vibe, but truly, don’t go into this expecting a story. Just go into expecting to hang out with some interesting characters. And to laugh.

I picked this up because I was craving some retro Cali reading, but I wasn’t expecting it be as funny as it is. I saw one review on Goodreads that I think sums it up perfectly – “A dirty Joan Didion.” What more could you want in a summer read??

Soon to be a TV show on Hulu Eve Babitz is a writer like no other—she “is to prose what Chet Baker is to jazz” (Vanity Fair)—and she has influenced a generation of writers and readers with her sophisticated, witty, and delightful work. L.A. Woman is quintessential Babitz, the story of Sophie, a twenty-something blonde Jim Morrison groupie gliding through a golden existence in L.A. and Lola, a German immigrant who settles in Hollywood in the twenties to drive Pierce Arrows recklessly down Sunset Boulevard and who knows that Maybelline mascara cakes and Rudolph Valentino are the essence of life. Sophie and Lola, like the many other women who move in and out of this electric saga know that while L.A. is constantly changing it is essentially eternal; through their eyes we see the mixture of high culture and low, the promises of youth and the fulfillment of nostalgia, the pink sunsets and the palm trees that are L.A. And through this fantastic tale, Babitz shares what it is to be a woman in what she convinces us is the capital of civilization.

L.A.WOMAN

Steph

lexie

EVE. BABITZ

Sophie, a twenty-something Jim Morrison groupie gliding through a golden existence in L.A., and Lola, a German immigrant who has settled in Hollywood, know that while Los Angeles is constantly changing, it is essentially eternal. The two women dazzle - one with the promises of youth, the other with the fulfilment of nostalgia - as they wend their way through the pink sunsets and the palm trees of Los Angeles.Living out their addictively decadent lives, Sophie and Lola are cult writer Babitz's literary embodiment of the iconic L.A. Woman - more than in part inspired by her own wild and hedonistic youth.

L.A. Woman

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