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sdlauram's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Interesting and witty! I feel like I could see the reverberations of Babitz’s observations in other forms of media & am excited to dig in on her impact.
lizo4ka's review against another edition
3.0
I do not like form of this book but it was good try. Really beautiful and witty writing and descriptions was amazing. However in my books I prefer more plot than atmosphere. I think it is just not for me
isamausi's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
annaldolan's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoy the thought of a young woman’s life in Los Angeles. But I found that book didn’t live up to that idea. I wanted to hear about parties and drugs not simply the mention about them . I do still have a open mind to her other books if they are not as stale as this. I am a Canadian teenager so I do not understand the references I didn’t mind that but I just felt it was appropriate to add because some others would enjoy it who knows about this kind of stuff. At times her writing was pretentious and spent a lot of time her explaining absolutely nothing. One thing I noticed is there are a lot of small rants that are ‘a part of the story’ simply because they are in brackets but simply adds nothing. It’s also subtly racist, homophobic and misogynistic but it is ingnored because people enjoy her writting. Like how people do with Coleen Hoover. (I’m adding that because I know it will piss off the classic sad literary girls who support her writting so much.) I don’t think she is as witty and clever people lead her up to be. While she never says anything to support my next claim it reads off as “I had a cool life with cool, hot famous people.” One of the parts I found the most odd is how she explains men don’t like plus size women except for herself? None of the characters had personality not even the narrator. I felt the whole book was her name dropping and showing how cool and desirable she was through these characters. ‘Even a queer man wants to be with me.’ Or ‘this girl is so cool she’d never want to be friends with me. But oh wait she does because I am one of those people who say they aren’t something so people will compliment me on it.’ But at the same time it is self righteous she also try’s to portray herself as a a outsider which is Bs because she is one of the og nepo babies. It was so short but so hard to get through. Anyways don’t take this to heart, books are art so they are subjective and rip.
sincerelycalla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
glamorous and beautiful
sineadlily's review against another edition
4.0
This was Moya Mawhinney's book club pick on fable for this month. The first time I tried to read it I was in a bit of a reading rut and put it down, but the feeling of the book lingered with me and I decided to try reading it again. The first time I read it I thought it seemed shallow and without purpose but upon reading it a second time I realised that there's a really beautiful vulnerability and kindness in this little memoir that I ignored the first time I tried to read it. It was funny, poetic and sad all at once. It makes you feel as though are a part of LA and experiencing the city and the people in it, without being there at all. I can safely say I'm now craving to experience it for myself; the heat, the craziness, the americanness. I really enjoyed this little memoir!
laura_bower's review against another edition
5.0
This whole book is wonderfully perfect and nice to see that it's having a renaissance right now, interesting to think that female writers were still being less remarked in the 70s, as I always thought that was more of a pre-50s thing. Has a fast modern tone like the best of that time in literature when things had to be faster, has a kind of synthesis of emotion and scenery of LA, doesn't go down the whole tourist-lit route of describing streets in boring and alienating detail. Lots of nights getting sloshed and coming on heavy. Can't really fault it and will likely check out all her other books until I get to the stage where I've read so much of her that I know exactly what she's doing, then I'll get bored and read other stuff, or maybe not.
04rtic's review against another edition
4.0
I don't have the energy to write a long review for this one. But it was no doubt that I loved it. I plan to visit this review section one day once I'm in a better headspace.
manicpixi3dreamgirl's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0