Black Swans: Stories

Black Swans is a collection of nine stories featuring a fictionalised Eve Babitz, examining life in LA in the 1980s and 1990s. Candid, moving and often holding no punches, these are varied tales told by a unique voice. The stories strip back the glamour of a city built on shimmering dreams. They examine the real life behind the facade of the Hollywood sign and of the joy and heartbreak the sequins and lights can hide.There is a decedance and a freedom that weaves throughout the stories, with tales of hunkering down in the Chateau Marmont for days with a new lover, unaware that LA was burning around them as the riots took hold. There is the story of falling in love with tango, the emotions brought forth as a result of seeing the dance, and then dancing herself. There are moment of introspection, of taking stock of achievements and those things that may have been lost. There is a sense of freedom, of recklessness and of realisation throughout the stories. The fictional Eve looks back on her actions, of the drug use, of getting clean, of sexual freedom and past relationships, assessing where she is at certain points in her life. There are tinges of sadness throughout the stories, of introspection but also hints of realisation, of moments to be proud of and people she is thankful were in her life, however briefly.The stories in Black Swans are told in a fictionalised auto-biographical style. This works well, engaging the reader on a more intimate level, each story increasing the interest, so much so that I found myself researching Eve Babitz once I had finished the book. She has had a fascinating life so far, living in LA through some interesting times and her life story would no doubt be one deemed too extravagent to be real. Her life has been a rollercoaster. She posed naked in her early 20s as a way to get back at her married lover. She had relationships with Steve Martin, Harrison Ford and Jim Morrison. Her illustrations have graced the covers of albums for the Byrds and Linda Ronstadt and she has written many pieces of fiction and non fiction, including pieces in Esquire.An intriuging, entertaining collection where the lines of fact and fiction are blurred.

This collection is the last anthology of Babitz's stories to be published, (1993), and is my favorite. Babitz is the person who told Steve Martin to put on a white suit, and who told Jim Morrison that "The Doors of Perception" was too pretentious a name for a band and had to be shortened. So, as far as I'm concerned, she is the ultimate chronicler of 70's and 80's L.A. and every single important thing that ever happened there, then.Babitz is smart and observant and insightful, of course. But she's also generous, good-hearted, forgiving, and very funny. Anyone can puncture L.A., but it really takes one to know one, and Babitz, (the wise Hollywood High grad), is sly, wry and sometimes surprisingly vulnerable. She was always a little bit ahead of the curve, and since the curve seems to be coming back around to money, status, and celebrity, her work is as pertinent today as it was when first published.This time around we cover a generous range of topics. Her piece on jealousy didn't do a lot for me at first, (until I saw where she was going), but I enjoyed every line of her commentary on L.A.'s hundredth birthday. The Tibet piece perfectly captured the cluelessness that first met the advent of AIDS, and "Black Swans" is an exquisitely modulated and restrained recounting of how the struggle between men and women can guarantee everyone's unhappiness. Her takes on conspicuous consumption, marriage for money, self-enchanted stars, and so on are somehow both lacerating and indulgent, which I guess rather suits such topics.Babitz is sometimes portrayed as just a party girl who got lucky, and maybe just a slightly smarter Edie Sedgwick, but that misses the mark by a long shot. Like the Zelig of L.A. at a pivotal point in its history she was everywhere, knew everyone, remembered it all, and, most importantly, understood it all. And, happily, she shares it with us.(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)