Eve Babitz

Eve Babitz is a Los Angeles-based author and artist whose work is often described as clever and racy. She has written several books, including two memoirs, covering topics such as feminism and the art world, as well as fiction, short stories, and essays. Her writing has gained a cult following, with her vivid recollections of Los Angeles counterculture in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Babitz was born in Hollywood in 1943, the daughter of two prominent Los Angeles artists. Her father, Sol Babitz, was a composer and her mother, Mae Babitz, was a fashion designer who once appeared on the TV show “I Love Lucy.” Babitz has described her parents as “Marxists without the politics.”

Throughout her writings, Babitz is often more intriguing and alluring than one might expect, given her Los Angeles upbringing. Her works often veer towards the strange, unexpected, and naturally, noteworthy. She is best known for writing about Los Angeles as a bufferzone between high and low culture, as a place where one finds glamour and grit, as well as for her distinctively edgy yet humorous voice.

Babitz's first book, Eve's Hollywood, was published in 1974 and contains a candid autobiographical look at the early days of Los Angeles's underground culture. She recounts her time apartying with Jim Morrison and other members of The Doors, as well as her encounters with other famous Hollywood figures, telling her story with unabashed humor and wit. The book was nominated for a National Book Award, and has since attained cult status.

The follow-up book, Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, and L.A. was published in 1977, and is considered Babitz's strongest work. It details her life in 1960s and '70s Hollywood, in which she moved seamlessly between parties with famous rock stars, famous painters and writers, and divorced fathers of her friends.

In addition to her two memoirs, Babitz has written several novels and short stories. Fire, The Metropolitan West, Two Whites and One Russian, Black Swans, and Sex and Rage are among her fiction works, which are a mix of different genres: some are funny, some are heartbreaking, and some are thrilling. Babitz often creates compelling characters, from the freedom-seeking hairdresser of Two Whites and One Russian to the thrill-seeking of Black Swans.

Babitz also writes about her love of art and architecture, including in her essays “Building in Los Angeles” and “Joan Didion’s Los Angeles”. She has c...written several pieces for Vogue magazine, musing on topics such as love, celebrity, and culture.

Despite the years that have passed since her last book was published, her influence still reverberates through modern culture. Famed fashion designers like Calvin Klein have been swept up in the 1980s Babitz fashion craze, and her influence on modern Los Angeles culture continues to be seen in the music, art, and fashion that is part of the city.

Babitz’s short stories and collections of essays, such as Eve’s Hollywood, Slow Days Fast Company, Fire, and Two Whites and One Russian, are thoughtfully crafted, captivating stories that offer an indelible portrait of an era, and of Los Angeles life. Her works examine the highs and lows of the artist in society, and offer an intimate exploration of beauty and art in a way that few writers can.