Eve Babitz, Slow Days, Fast Company
Babitz, Eve. Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A. First Edition. 1977. Book and dust jacket in very good condition. There is a third-party gift inscription on the flyleaf, “5 July 1980, Caro Reginaldo—‘Cause you liked the other ‘—itz’ so much you must be exposed (?) to the West Coast’s own ‘—itz’ ~ I know you’ll see why ~ Toujours Ton ‘Renzo.”
Typically a third-party gift inscription detracts from a book’s value. Not so the intriguing message in this copy with a UK provenance. It hints at what eluded the self-congratulatory New York literary world at the time. Eve Babitz’s blend of naivete and sophistication made her the perfect writer to capture the gossamer quality of 1970s-era California. Baked into this style was a Babitz’s appalling lack of self-discipline. It made her work uneven, but this collection of essays is regarded as her best. Moreover, though Babitz will never replace her erstwhile friend and mentor Joan Didion, she makes for an intriguing contrast. Didion wrote about the 1970s California experience; Babitz lived it. Since her 21st Century rediscovery, even New York now gets it, and as such, first editions are highly sought after by Babitz’s many devotees.
“In Los Angeles it’s hard to tell if you’re dealing with the real true illusion or the false one.”
--Eve Babitz