Eve Babitz Explained

Eve Babitz
Birth Date:13 May 1943
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Period:1970–2021
Subject:Memoir

Eve Babitz (May 13, 1943 – December 17, 2021) was an American visual artist and author best known for her semi-fictionalized memoirs and her relationship to the cultural milieu of Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Babitz was born in Hollywood, California, the daughter of Mae, an artist, and Sol Babitz, a classical violinist on contract with 20th Century Fox.[1] Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother had Cajun (French) ancestry.[2] Babitz's parents were friends with the composer Igor Stravinsky, who was her godfather.[3] She attended Hollywood High School.[4]

Career

In 1963, her first brush with notoriety came through Julian Wasser's iconic photograph of a nude, 20-year-old Babitz playing chess with the artist Marcel Duchamp on the occasion of his landmark retrospective at the Pasadena Art Museum. The show was curated by Walter Hopps, with whom Babitz was having an affair at the time.[5] [6] The photograph is described by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art as being "among the key documentary images of American modern art".

Babitz began her independent career as an artist, working in the music industry for Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records, making album covers.[7] In the late 1960s, she designed album covers for Linda Ronstadt, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield. Her most famous cover was a collage for the 1967 album Buffalo Springfield Again.[8]

Her articles and short stories appeared in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. She was the author of several books including Eve's Hollywood, Slow Days, Fast Company, Sex and Rage, Two By Two, L.A. Woman, and Black Swans. Transitioning to her particular blend of fiction and memoir beginning with Eve's Hollywood, Babitz's writing of this period is marked by the cultural scene of Los Angeles during that time, with numerous references to and interactions with the artists, musicians, writers, actors, and sundry other iconic figures that made up the scene in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Novelists Joseph Heller and Bret Easton Ellis were fans of her work, with the latter writing, "In every book she writes, Babitz’s enthusiasm for L.A. and its subcultures is fully displayed."[9]

Despite her literary output, which drew frequent comparisons to Joan Didion and was critically acclaimed,[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] much of the press about Babitz emphasized her various romantic associations with famous men. These include singer/poet Jim Morrison, artists (and brothers) Ed Ruscha and Paul Ruscha, and Hopps, the comedian and writer Steve Martin, the actor Harrison Ford, and the writer Dan Wakefield, among others. Ed Ruscha included her in Five 1965 Girlfriends (Walker Arts Center's Design Journal, 1970). Because of this, she has been likened to Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's 1965 protégée at The Factory in New York City.

In Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A., biographer Lili Anolik writes, "passing herself off as a groupie allowed Eve to infiltrate, edge into territory from which she'd otherwise have been barred."[15] Reviewing this biography for The Nation, journalist Marie Solis wrote, "Babitz didn’t live a life free from patriarchy, but modern-day readers might surmise that she found a way to outsmart it. Despite her proximity as a Hollywood insider to the powerhouses of male celebrity, she rarely succumbed to their charms; instead, she made everyone play by her own rules."[16]

In 1997, Babitz was severely injured while in her car when she accidentally dropped a lit match onto a gauze skirt, which ignited and melted her pantyhose beneath it.[17] While her lower legs were protected by the sheepskin Ugg boots she was wearing, the accident caused life-threatening third-degree burns to over half of her body.[4] Because she had no health insurance, friends and family organized a fund-raising auction to pay her medical bills. Friends and former lovers donated cash and artworks to help pay for her long recovery. Babitz became somewhat more reclusive after this incident, but was still willing to be interviewed on occasion. In a 2000 interview with Ron Hogan of Beatrice magazine, Babitz said, "I've got other books to do that I'm working on."[2] When Hogan asked what those books would be about, Babitz replied: "One's fiction and the other's nonfiction. The nonfiction book is about my experiences in the hospital. The other's a fictionalized version of my parents' lives in Los Angeles, my father's Russian Jewish side and my mother's Cajun French side."[2] These books had not been published .

Babitz died of Huntington's disease at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles on December 17, 2021, at age 78.[18] [19] [20]

Resurgence

Babitz enjoyed a renaissance from 2010 due in part to the reissuing of much of her work by publishers including New York Review Books, Simon & Schuster and Counterpoint Press.[21] [22] [23] In 2019, New York Review of Books published I Used to Be Charming, a previously uncollected selection of her essays.[4] In The Paris Review, Molly Lambert wrote, "Babitz is at home anywhere, and everywhere she goes she finds the most interesting person, the weirdest place, the funniest throwaway detail. She makes writing seem effortless and fun, which any writer can tell you is the hardest trick of all."[13] In a 2009 review of Eve's Hollywood, Deborah Shapiro called Babitz's voice "self-assured yet sympathetic, cheeky and voluptuous, but registering just the right amount of irony", adding, "reading West (and Fante and Chandler and Cain and the like) made me want to go to Los Angeles. Babitz makes me feel like I'm there."[24]

The New York Public Library convened a 2016 panel on "The Eve Effect" that included actress Zosia Mamet and New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino.[25] In 2017, Hulu announced it would be developing a comedy series based on Babitz's memoirs, a project led by Liz Tigelaar, Amy Pascal, and Elizabeth Cantillon.[26]

In 2022, the Huntington Library in California announced that it had acquired Babitz's personal archive, which includes drafts, journals, photographs, and letters spanning 1943 to 2011.[27]

Published works

Fiction

Publisher information relates to first publication only. Some of the books have been reissued.

Nonfiction

Selected essays

External links

Notes and References

  1. Nelson, Steffie, L.A. Woman The Los Angeles Review of Books, December 18, 2011 Web site: Nelson . Steffie . December 18, 2011 . L.A. Woman . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130122121839/http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=15&fulltext=1 . January 22, 2013 . May 1, 2012.
  2. Eve Babitz. Eve. Babitz. Ron Hogan. 2000. www.beatrice.com. September 24, 2015. March 27, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160327003116/http://www.beatrice.com/interviews/babitz/. live.
  3. Babitz. Eve. Paul Karlstrom. Oral history interview. June 14, 2000. Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution. Babitz's home, Hollywood, California. May 1, 2012. March 6, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140306082515/http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-eve-babitz-12164. live.
  4. Book: Babitz. Eve. I Used To Be Charming. 2019. New York Review of Books. 9781681373799. New York. All This and The Godfather Too. Eve Babitz. April 21, 2021. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205744/https://www.nyrb.com/products/i-used-to-be-charming. live.
  5. Web site: Babitz. Eve. December 18, 2021. Eve Babitz: I Was a Naked Pawn For Art. December 19, 2021. Esquire. en-US. December 19, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211219025028/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a38557455/eve-babitz-marcel-duchamp-naked-chess-true-story/. live.
  6. Anolik. Lili. March 2014. All About Eve—and Then Some. March 1, 2014. Vanity Fair. Conde Nast. February 28, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140228110425/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/03/eve-babitz-los-angeles-party-scene. live.
  7. Web site: RockDoc999. 2020-11-28. Eve Babitz - A Los Angeles Icon. December 30, 2021. recordart. December 30, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211230120541/https://recordart.net/2020/11/28/eve-babitz-a-los-angeles-icon/. live.
  8. Holter. Andrew. The RS500 #188: Buffalo Springfield, "Buffalo Springfield Again" (1967). December 30, 2021. Rolling Stone. December 30, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211230115643/http://www.thers500.com/albums/188-buffalo-springfield-buffalo-springfield-again-1967. live.
  9. Book: Babitz, Eve. Two by Two: Tango, Two-Step, and the L.A. Night. November 3, 1999. Simon & Schuster. 9780684833927. First Printing. New York. en.
  10. News: Green. Penelope. October 3, 2019. The Eve Babitz Revival. en-US. The New York Times. April 21, 2021. 0362-4331. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421211207/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/style/the-eve-babitz-revival.html. live.
  11. Tolentino. Jia. The "Sex and Rage" of Eve Babitz. April 21, 2021. The New Yorker. en-us. February 23, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210223062159/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-sex-and-rage-of-eve-babitz. live.
  12. Web site: January 18, 2019. Eve Babitz chronicled L.A.'s hedonist heyday and enjoyed the party. April 21, 2021. Los Angeles Times. en-US. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205744/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-eve-babitz-hollywood-review-20190118-story.html. live.
  13. Web site: Lambert. Molly. October 7, 2019. The Perseverance of Eve Babitz's Vision. April 21, 2021. The Paris Review. en. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205744/https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/10/07/the-perseverance-of-eve-babitzs-vision/. live.
  14. News: Ciuraru. Carmela. October 28, 2015. Review: New Novels by Paul Murray, César Aira and Others. en-US. The New York Times. April 21, 2021. 0362-4331. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205742/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/books/review-new-novels-by-paul-murray-cesar-aira-and-others.html. live.
  15. Book: Anolik, Lili . Hollywood's Eve : Eve Babitz and the secret history of L.A. . 2019 . 978-1-5011-2579-9 . Scribner . New York . 1057240688.
  16. News: Solis. Marie. February 8, 2019. Eve Babitz's Visions of Total Freedom. The Nation. en-US. April 21, 2021. 0027-8378. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205744/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/hollywood-eve-babitz-book-review/. live.
  17. Web site: October 3, 2019 . The Eve Babitz Revival . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210421211207/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/style/the-eve-babitz-revival.html . April 21, 2021 . April 29, 2021 . New York Times . en-US.
  18. News: Green. Penelope. December 19, 2021. Eve Babitz, a Hedonist With a Notebook, Is Dead at 78. en-US. The New York Times. December 20, 2021. 0362-4331. December 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211220000626/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/obituaries/eve-babitz-dead.html. live.
  19. News: December 18, 2021. Author Eve Babitz, who captured and embodied the culture of Los Angeles, dies at 78. Mark. Olsen. live. Los Angeles Times. en-US. December 19, 2021. December 19, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211219022845/https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2021-12-18/hollywood-bard-muse-and-reveler-eve-babitz-dies-at-78.
  20. News: Eve Babitz, who chronicled and reveled in Hollywood hedonism, dies at 78. Matt. Schudel. December 19, 2021. en-US. Washington Post. 0190-8286. December 20, 2021. December 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211220130751/https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2021/12/19/hollywood-chronicler-eve-babitz-dies/. live.
  21. Web site: Eve Babitz. April 21, 2021. New York Review Books. en. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205743/https://www.nyrb.com/collections/eve-babitz. live.
  22. Web site: Eve Babitz. April 21, 2021. Simon & Schuster. en. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205745/https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Eve-Babitz/269534. live.
  23. Web site: January 25, 2017. Eve Babitz. April 21, 2021. Counterpoint Press. en-US. April 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421205744/https://www.counterpointpress.com/authors/eve-babitz/. live.
  24. Web site: The Second Pass. Deborah. Shapiro. Freeways, Taquitos, Stravinsky, and Speed. March 12, 2009. May 1, 2012. May 23, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120523234855/http://thesecondpass.com/?p=493. live.
  25. Web site: Cohen. Stefanie. January 5, 2019. How a badass, ex-drug addict groupie became a millennial hero at 75. April 21, 2021. New York Post. en-US. December 14, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201214164859/https://nypost.com/2019/01/05/how-a-badass-ex-drug-addict-groupie-became-a-millennial-hero-at-75/. live.
  26. Web site: Andreeva. Nellie. Hulu Developing 'LA Woman' Comedy Based On Eve Babitz Memoirs From Liz Tigelaar, Amy Pascal and Elizabeth Cantillon. October 4, 2017. October 4, 2017. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107144457/http://deadline.com/2017/10/hulu-la-woman-dramedy-based-eve-babitz-memoirs-liz-tigelaar-amy-pascal-elizabeth-cantillon-1202181421/. live.
  27. Web site: Pineda . Dorany . 2022-03-10 . The Huntington Library acquires archive of Eve Babitz, the late L.A. author . 2023-02-26 . Los Angeles Times.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Eve Babitz".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.