Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Adored this. Such a great holiday read. Riotous woman refuses to be caged by life, has a love affair with Jim Morrison, wants to be Marilyn Monroe. Shocking, sordid, technicolour and firing on all cylinders 😍

LA Woman is a novel by Eve Babitz first published in 1982 and re-published in 2019 with an eye-catching funky bright yellow cover that screams for attention.

Eve Babitz was not known to me prior reading this book, but after googling her I think she is an extraordinary woman, artist and novelist with a very interesting life. After learning about Eve's background, the book felt autobiographical to me but it's hard to say to what extend is the book based on her real life. She was friends with Jim Morrison who also features in the book.

LA Woman reads like a few different stories tied in together but without any main plot. The book is narrated by Sophie who refuses to marry and settle down and chooses to become a photographer, living a glamorous extravagant life in Hollywood with plenty of men to date. The book is easy to read and I flew through it in just two sittings. There are quite a few different characters thrown in and it took me a moment to figure out and remember who was who. Overall this was an entertaining and wild read and it's hard to believe this is a book from 1982! Eve Babitz was for sure ahead of her times.

"Ophelia confessed to me, 'I never knew what to do either, so I got married.'
'I'm saving that as a last resort,' I said.
'But you know so many men,' Ophelia said, 'isn't there even one for you?'
'They're all adjectives,' I said, 'they all make me feel modified; even a word like girl friend gives me this feeling I've been cut in half. I'd rather just be a car or a big one, than sit there for the rest of my life being stuck with some adjective.'"

Many thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Books for my review copy.

A dreamy and directionless wander through Los Angeles and LA

Eve Babitz has captured Hollywood when the glamour and groupies were still very much part of the course.

It’s a tongue in cheek look - with celebrity and glitz on every page, hot guys, cocktails, secrets, groupies and constant sunshine. This is the place everyone wants to be and where everyone wants to be spotted. It has that endless bohemian sunshine feel to it all so wear your shades and your floppy hat when reading.

Los Angeles:

"But the feeling in LA that the place was not safe—that hovering earthquake in the air—was why anyone in the trance even came down long enough to learn to thread a camera at all. They had to take their eye off what was probably the apocalypse and invent Theda Bara out of a girl from Cincinnati to make sense out of the light."

On movies and war:

"If only the next people who decided to have a war would stay home and make a movie instead, it would be just as expensive and beyond human control, but by the time you got sick of it, you could go home."

This is an entertaining memoir that reflects the spirit of Hollywood at the times. Fun, drugs, parties, live life to the fullest attitude.
I'm glad I read it and I thought it was well written.

This is a colourful memoir of excess and fun in Hollywood. It evokes the time and place unashamedly as Sophie drinks and drugs her way around people who lived fast and died young. Four stars.

A novel centred on a young woman's extended nostalgic musings about her life and her experiences in Los Angeles.

A breathless, hilarious whirl which satisfies both as frothy, gossipy girl trash and beautiful, evocative literature that stands alongside Didion's California books. Eve Babitz was so smart and sharp and it's a joy that her work is being rediscovered and recognised for how good it really is.

A reprint from the 1980s, this is a meandering memoir-esque text about youth, glamour, Hollywood, dreams, hedonism... It captures a bohemian mindset, west coast freedom, despite the hints of more sober events in the background. Don't expect a plot or direction, but there's some stylish prose and an attractive elusiveness about it - best read in the sunshine, cocktail at hand!