An entire generation of women with a literary inclination has not stopped telling stories influenced by the master storyteller Joan Didion. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of Eve Babitza rebellious Hollywood girl whose life briefly intersected with Didion’s in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Few writers, of course, have Didion’s stature, and Babitz has a group of ardent and influential admirers. Your biggest fan could be Lili Anolikcontributing editor of Vanity Fairwhose 2014 article on Babitz, followed by his 2019 biography “Hollywood’s Eve,” fueled a revival of interest in his work.
Now Anolik returns with a new book, Didion & Babitzin which she explores the complicated relationship between the rivals and declares her devotion to the lesser-known of the two: “I’m crazy about Eve, I love her with the irrational abandon of a fan. Also, I naturally go against Joan: I respect her work more than I like it; I find her persona—part princess, part party pooper—difficult to approach; and I condemn her for sending us, the innocent reading public, a seemingly endless army of young, middle-class personal essayists who take their feelings very seriously and expect us to do the same.”
The two women met in 1967 when Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunnelived at 7406 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, a decadent time and place that Didion immortalized in the nonfiction collection that launched her to fame, Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
In 1971, Didion helped Babitz publish a story in the magazine Rolling Stone —”She is a painter, not a writer,” Didion told the editor. Eventually, that led to a publishing deal. But their friendship fractured when Didion and Dunne were hired by Babitz’s publisher to edit the book, which became Eve’s Hollywoodand Babitz took offense to his criticism. Later, he boasted to a friend, “I fired Joan.”
Anolik makes a compelling case for Babitz’s literary genius and establishes an interesting contrast between the two women: one uninhibited, libidinous and gleefully depraved; the other shy, cerebral and very controlled.
But don’t expect the calm, organized, and balanced approach of a literary critic or biographer. In the wild, gossipy style of the tabloids, and with frequent nods to “The Reader,” Anolik gossips about all the leading and supporting players in her high bohemian circle, especially Didion and Dunne. In the end, everyone ends up looking bad, including, unfortunately, Babitz.
Source: AP
