A review by reggiewoods
Slow Days, Fast Company. The World, the Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz

adventurous dark emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Eve Babitz’s semi-fictional memoir is a collection of short stories that are great for the voyeur. Babitz was a writer and visual artists in Los Angeles, and this collection encompasses her time hobnobbing amongst the Hollywood Elite of the late 60s and early 70s. For a socialite, she is quite misanthropic toward her scene, almost as if L.A. has given her Stockholm Syndrome. Her stories are mostly about beautiful people living absurd lives in this fantastical world, mostly as the do drugs, sleep with one another, and have mental breakdowns. The fact that it is an insider’s look into Hollywood is not quite what makes Babitz special, but her unique and fearless voice in which her prose is composed. It’s not the scandal of it all that appeals to the reader, but how Babitz makes you feel as if you were quietly sitting next to her, observing the whole insane circus.