Didion & Babitz
Lili Anolik
Didion & Babitz
Lili Anolik
Eve Babitz died on December 17, 2021. Found in the wrack, ruin and filth of her apartment, a stack of boxes packed by her mother decades before. Inside, a lost world, centred on a two-story rental in a down-at-heel section of Hollywood in the sixties and seventies. 7406 Franklin Avenue, where writers and artists mixed with movie stars, rock 'n' rollers and drugs.
Franklin Avenue was the making of one great American writer: Joan Didion, a mystery behind her dark glasses and cool expression, her marriage to John Gregory Dunne as tortured as it was enduring. It was also the breaking and then the remaking – and thus the true making – of another great American writer: Eve Babitz, goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky, nude of Marcel Duchamp, consort of Jim Morrison (and many, many others), a woman who burned so hot she finally almost burned herself alive. Didion and Babitz formed a complicated alliance, a friendship that went bad, amity turning to enmity.
With deftness and skill, journalist Lili Anolik uses Babitz, Babitz's brilliance of observation, Babitz's incisive intelligence and, most of all, Babitz's diary-like letters – letters found in those sealed boxes, letters so intimate you don't read them so much as breathe them – as the key to unlocking Didion.
Review
Holly Mortlock
Didion & Babitz is a compelling exploration of the artistic views and contrasts between Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, each author famous for chronicling a gritty and glamorous era of Hollywood in their own distinctive style.
Didion, always a writer and a stinging observer, critiques the whirlwind around her with a poised, intelligent gaze, while Babitz, the artist and self-assigned ‘groupie’, immerses herself fully in the scene, embodying the raw side of life on the strip. Their relationship was more than a professional connection; Didion played a crucial role in Babitz’s early career, championing her voice in an industry still run by men. Yet, the stark differences in their experiences (and opinions) of Los Angeles led to a complicated dynamic that ultimately strained their friendship.
Lili Anolik’s portrayal leans heavily toward Babitz’s emotional depth, framing the narrative through her unfiltered lens. The visceral quality of Babitz’s writing, reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson’s immersive style in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, pulls you into her world, making you feel every intense moment. It’s refreshing and authentic, offering a stark contrast to Didion’s more polished, sometimes emotionally distant prose. Anolik’s own admiration for Babitz shines through, as she interjects her thoughts on the duo, stemming from her previous biography of the artist. The book often breaks the fourth wall, asking the reader to join in and bringing the dirty sequins up to our noses with a stinging smack.
At the heart of Didion & Babitz lies a challenging, unsent letter from Babitz to Didion – a critique that encapsulates the tension between them. This theme of friendship, artistry, and feminism in a male-dominated landscape adds layers to the narrative, revealing the complexities of their lives.
Anolik’s insights will resonate long after you turn the last page, revealing two sides to Hollywood in the contrasting lives and work of two very talented writers.
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