Black Swans: Stories

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Young creatives now had keys to the kingdom, typified by Babitz’s portrayal of Zack Gregson, a surfer-cum-producer in Hollywood’s fast lane, dedicated to “guarding the scripts from having fake happy endings, keeping locations grounded in reality, and using actresses willing to risk looking like actual people who chewed gum. Don’t pick it up if you’d prefer to hear a more discerning narrative from someone who wasn’t immune to the metaphorical and literal smog of the darker and more nuanced realities of 90s LA.

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 . If you're looking for help with a personal book recommendation, consult our Weekly Recommendation Thread, Suggested Reading page, or ask in r/suggestmeabook.Her wholesale embrace of what is lovely and dangerous and absurd about Los Angeles appeals to contemporary readers. For the contemporary reader, the idea that exploring sexuality is mutually exclusive from succeeding professionally feels stale and restrictive. is an acquired taste: her slewing style, bad-girl postures, and sad-funny takes on hedonism can be deliciously shocking but don't always blend-up right .

As Black Swans comes to a close, even Babitz, touted for her devotion to Los Angeles, implies that the city is hard to love, confessing that she now prefers Miami. and Esquire , and in the late 1960s, she designed album covers for the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and Linda Ronstadt. and her wisecracking, ain't-it-the-truth-honey voice is just about perfect in illuminating the fact.I read this work alongside some Janet Malcolm and Joan Didion to see whose writing style I enjoyed the most.