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allison_reads 's review for:
Sex and Rage
by Eve Babitz
To say that Sex & Rage is divisive in it's reviews would be an understatement. Scrolling through Goodreads is a whiplash of 1-star reviews calling it painfully dull and the 5-star reviews applauding it as the best thing ever written. I was in the middle.
I, admittedly, have never been farther west than Nevada and was born far after the height of rock n' roll but if someone told me that Babitz captured Laurel Canyon perfectly in these pages I wouldn't doubt them! I felt swept away in 60s- 70s L.A. - shag rugs, bellbottoms, and all. We follow Jacaranda as she falls victim to the vices of mid-century California to the point that she falls into success and pulls herself back together. Babitz's language (and likely personal experience) makes this story an appetizing one to follow and get lost in. Babitz's tendency to self-insert was an interesting device (when Jacaranda first goes to Max's penthouse and sees a photo of a naked woman and Marcel Duchamp playing chess with each other, she's directly mentioning a photo that exists of herself and Marcel Duchamp playing chess together). It wasn't distracting but made me question where Jacaranda began and where Eve ended. I will say that I didn't 'get' Max or what the hang-up was with him. Maybe it was the little touch of fame and wealth that Jacaranda couldn't quite shake but, I couldn't understand why he became such a huge plot point when Jacaranda herself was an enticing enough character.
I can definitely see myself reading more Babitz in the future.
I, admittedly, have never been farther west than Nevada and was born far after the height of rock n' roll but if someone told me that Babitz captured Laurel Canyon perfectly in these pages I wouldn't doubt them! I felt swept away in 60s- 70s L.A. - shag rugs, bellbottoms, and all. We follow Jacaranda as she falls victim to the vices of mid-century California to the point that she falls into success and pulls herself back together. Babitz's language (and likely personal experience) makes this story an appetizing one to follow and get lost in. Babitz's tendency to self-insert was an interesting device (when Jacaranda first goes to Max's penthouse and sees a photo of a naked woman and Marcel Duchamp playing chess with each other, she's directly mentioning a photo that exists of herself and Marcel Duchamp playing chess together). It wasn't distracting but made me question where Jacaranda began and where Eve ended. I will say that I didn't 'get' Max or what the hang-up was with him. Maybe it was the little touch of fame and wealth that Jacaranda couldn't quite shake but, I couldn't understand why he became such a huge plot point when Jacaranda herself was an enticing enough character.
I can definitely see myself reading more Babitz in the future.