Black Swans: Stories

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This is the product of the autobiographical style of her writing which often has a texture more similar to personal nonfiction than fiction, which makes conversations about contemporary events feel naturally woven into her world . After all, the world Babitz depicts in her books of women roaming its streets and weighing their impulses very much remains the same, even if the landscape of the city itself has changed .

Sex and Rage is a romp with substance--just beyond the descriptions of drinks and parties and devastating one-liners is a sweet story of a bright but messy young woman, making her own way.Still, it is hard not to fall for Los Angeles through Babitz’s eyes: even the hot and heavy fling of a lifetime has its ups and downs. When asked, Babitz says her last serious relationship, the last time she thought she might get married, was in 1971, before she published her first story. I feel like dating and relationships didn't evolve at all since the 80s~90s or when was this book written and I am disappointed af. Her short stories consider the pros and cons of black lacquered swimming pools, and let us peer into the dining room of the Bel Air Hotel where Babitz — tripping on LSD — and her boyfriend are so drunk they can barely stay in their seats.

If you’re still fine with reading a woman berate other women for their appearances, their makeup and perfume, or pit women against each other — overall be evil to women… the casual racism is truly sickening. And, in spite of all the plights and the nasty people, Eve Babtiz has always envisioned life like a tango (“Tangoland”). Originally published in 1993, this collection of stories by Eve Babitz still feels incredibly relevant .With a sharp narrator who now has her wits about her and is able to look back at the tempestuous time with clear eyes and a biting tongue, the stories will both delight and horrify, and maybe show us that Hollywood has always had a seedy side--as we now know all too clearly. Every now and then you come across a story that makes you evaluate your own life and I think that's what makes for excellent art.

When Babitz's stories engage with politics, they're focused on demonstrating how her characters would engage, and the good and bad that comes with it. Slow Days, Fast Company” consistently reveals Babitz’s fascination with America, which she considered a place apart from Los Angeles. Black Swans, a collection of nine autobiographical, linked short stories, offers another vivid snapshot of the city, picking up in the late 1970s, continuing through the excess of the 1980s, and lightly touching the early 1990s: Sunday brunches anchored to swimming pools; the rapidly changing architectural landscape; the impossible art of convincing friends to brave the freeways for hole-in-the wall Tango classes in the Valley; the fragrant, sticky piles of fallen jacaranda blossoms covering the sidewalks and gathering in the gutters — even the leopard-print seat covers of her car. This may be enough to produce that single and interesting rare action that will push your character and story deeper.There is also a wandering in Babitz's world (she once told her mother that she wanted to grow up to become an adventuress) that embodies the spirit of today's popular wanderlust mantras inked on inside forearms. EVE BABITZ is the author of several books of fiction, including Sex and Rage, Eve’s Hollywood, and Slow Days, Fast Company.