This is one of the most tiresome biographies I have ever read. I love Eve Babitz's writing and find her profoundly interesting, so it says something tThis is one of the most tiresome biographies I have ever read. I love Eve Babitz's writing and find her profoundly interesting, so it says something that this book is an unbearable slog, especially because the author penned a series of Vanity Fair articles that I believe are at at least partially responsible for Babitz's resurgence in popularity in recent years.
Anolik has one of the most bizarre, inscrutable prose styles I have ever read. You are subjected to some truly unwieldy sentences in this book, such as the following:
"The company you keep is fast, just your speed as it so happens. No woof-woof among sex kittens you. Not with your perfect skin and teeth, hair the color of vanilla ice cream, secondary sexual characteristics that are second to none." (3%)
"And the photo, a lark and a prank and a bit of fun, a self-dare and a self-double-dog-dare, became famous (“Every artist on the planet knows it,” says Wasser), as well as an emblem of the era, appearing in promotional catalogs and advertisements for Pacific Standard Time, the sprawling, grand-scale series of exhibitions in 2011–12 that commemorated the birth of the L.A. art scene." (10%)
"Eve’s books, while frequently billed as fiction—“novel,” “confessional novel,” “stories”—are not." (17%)
Anolik, in addition to being hard to parse, frequently devolves into babbling nonsense and sycophantic, fervent praise of Babitz, which results in a sort of formless, directionless word salad:
“In every young man’s life there is an Eve Babitz. It is usually Eve Babitz.” That, as far as I’m concerned, is the best thing anybody has said about Eve ever. It’s an insult, yes, but it’s also Oscar Wilde, and therefore a compliment, and none higher." (18%)
"Eve is a product of Hollywood. And though Hollywood and the movies are not technically synonymous terms, they are de facto synonymous terms. What could be more fitting, therefore, than to end Eve’s story with a montage, among the most suggestive—and poignant—gestures in the cinematic lexicon, a feat and frenzy of editing, capable of conveying an entire life in a few carefully chosen images, one dissolving into another into another." (94%)
Anolik's idolatry infects the book and, unfortunately, almost degrades its subject, transforming Babitz from mysterious, glamorous party girl and intellectual powerhouse to almost a caricature or husk of a person; the book reifies instead of humanizes so much that Eve's real life doesn't seem, well, like real life. I mean, take this excerpt for example:
"So eagerly does Eve court corruption, so exuberantly does she participate in her degradation, so merrily does she roll along the path of sin, that she’s incorruptible, undegradable, and beyond reproach. (Has there ever been a less jaded debauchee?) She’s naughty, certainly, but bad, never. Is an innocent no matter how depraved her conduct. A lewd angel." (16%)
I am of the opinion that all good biographies, in addition to relaying facts of their subjects' lives in a digestible manner (something this supremely fails to do), offer insight into the subject as a person. Anolik is so blinded by her love for Eve that she fails to say anything insightful about her, and you come away with the somewhat pitiful image of Anolik as jealous of Eve Babitz. Specifically, the attitude towards Babitz's sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll lifestyle is (for lack of a better word) outright cringe. At one point Anolik says she feels as "if I’ve snuck into her bedroom, am snouting around in her underwear drawer, dropping crumbs in the pages of her diary" (19%) and you get the sense she would like to do that literally- there is far, far too much personal interjection of Anolik's opinions but especially when it comes to Eve's personal life; Anolik's opinions offer no insight and are near universally baseless:
"Because I’ve read her books and talked to her and talked to those off whom she cadged jobs during this period, however, I know the truth. She was serious about her art." (16%)
Anolik comes across like the world's most boring peeping Tom, one too straitlaced and lacking editorial verve to even keep her reader's eyes open when recounting everything from Old Hollywood to the clap clinic to heroin overdoses....more
it feels a little mean-spirited to call a collection of personal essays "derivative" since they are, as the form suggests, based in the personal. parait feels a little mean-spirited to call a collection of personal essays "derivative" since they are, as the form suggests, based in the personal. paradoxically, the personal is what felt lacking in choi's collection about loving and leaving new york. (new york? how original! how unique! boy, this city sure does chew you up and spit you out, but it teaches you lessons, man! haven't we tread this road enough times?) choi is a technically skilled writer and there are several witty and incisive lines here, but the prose on a formal level is not enough to surmount the frankly tired subject matter. most unfortunately, there is a lack of any substantive introspection or heart re: choi's relationships with other people or herself. she comes close a few times, offhandedly mentioning her rocky relationship with her brother, a boyfriend she somewhat meanly uses to pass the time, or her relationship to her asian heritage and community, but it never feels more than skin-deep. choi comes across as insulated and isolated, approaching the subject matter of her own life with detached, sardonic bemusement. and, really, what could be more new york than that? ...more
I greatly enjoyed these personal essays from Ratajkowski.
She writes in a very straightforward, frank, confessional style. I think those positing thatI greatly enjoyed these personal essays from Ratajkowski.
She writes in a very straightforward, frank, confessional style. I think those positing that she had a ghostwriter are, frankly, misogynistic- I have no reason to believe she couldn't have written this. There is even one telling section where she recounts an interaction at a Hollywood party where her intellect is dismissed out of hand in exactly this way:
“A book,” I’d repeat. “I’m writing a book.” And they’d pull back to search my face, thinking before they spoke again. “Like, by yourself? You’re writing it?” “Yeah!” I’d shrug as if to say, Crazy, right? Little ol’ me! Go figure. (76%- forgive the percentages instead of pages; I'm taking these quotes from the ingratiated kindle notes/highlights section of GR)
She also calls out a sleazy industry individual (who also serves as synecdoche for this attitude in society at large): "I wonder how many women you’ve disregarded in your life, written off, because you assumed they had nothing to offer beyond the way they looked. (82%)." In my opinion, with this collection, Ratajkowski asserts herself as an intellect to be taken seriously, a deeply introspective voice reconciling with being commodified and trying to grapple with power in patriarchal structures. The collection's expository nature is so raw in parts that Ratajkowski seemingly thumbs her nose at the readers- what can we judge her for, for which she has not already judged herself?
I do concede the collection is weakest during its meager attempts at class analysis, where Ratajkowski brushes up against "acknowledging her privilege" but downplays it in favor of focusing on her personal journey. Specifically, there are multiple mentions of her parents being teachers/professors, and one especially silly mention of her shopping at a Ross Dress 4 Less. However, I don't think she was trying to be Emma Goldman, here- obviously, this rich and famous supermodel is not, and never has been, working class- but the assertions of her overwhelm at her newly found star status and navigating situations such as draining legal battles to own her own image (see the spectacular section "Buying Myself Back") never feel anything less than completely introspective and genuine.
I also think the fact that Ratajkowski has in a sense "won the game" of capitalism (having attained rich and famous status) makes her points on misogyny and commodification even more salient- if even the highest echelon of women cannot escape sexual violence, humiliation, and the pain of gendered power dynamics, imagine what less privileged women experience. The experience of hearing such a successful woman discuss the universal pain of misogyny in such stark, personal detail was insightful and unique. I would highly encourage those curious to pick up this memoir, and I hope Ratajkowski writes more in the future. ...more
an interesting snapshot in time when it comes to interviews with band members and fans and especially the ruminations on how the internet would changean interesting snapshot in time when it comes to interviews with band members and fans and especially the ruminations on how the internet would change the music industry. there's not really much in the way of analysis, but greenwald gets bonus points for actually interrogating the origins of emo in its existence as an offshoot of punk, even if the early aspects of the scene are breezed through in order to focus on bands contemporary to the book's 2003 publication. or should i say band, singular, because this book is bogged down by its reverence for and over-emphasis on dashboard confessional. greenwald argues DC commercialized emo, to which i disagree- i would say jimmy eat world did that, and credit could also go in part to the promise ring, whose 1997 album the book is inexplicably titled after despite the book not really focusing on the promise ring. the book is pretty much half DC biography, to its detriment. nonetheless an interesting curio if you are interested in the emo scene, especially in the early 2000s....more
i tried to write this review without sounding like that "REAL emo only consists of the dc hardcore scene" copypasta because i am legitimately not a gei tried to write this review without sounding like that "REAL emo only consists of the dc hardcore scene" copypasta because i am legitimately not a genre purist (if you toss my chem and fall out boy in with emo i won't give you any flack) but the lack of attention to any of the genre's hardcore roots in this book tried my patience. forget skramz, emoviolence, "midwest/twinkle" emo, any other interesting niche subgenre you can think of, because they will not be mentioned. there's not even really mention of emo deriving from punk. instead, the book opens with defining emo culture and the emo "lifestyle": being sad all the time, having bangs, not being athletic. man... what are we doing here.
aside from the content issues, this book is tonally a mess. formatted like one of those j14 teen mags (complete with illustrations of the different "types of emos") it is dripping with derision; i couldn't tell if it was meant to be semi-satirical and self-flagellating or if it was condescension to the audience. on a metatextual level this seeming irony-poisoning actually really interested me as it seems to directly contradict the emo ethos, which is first and foremost earnest- emotional being the operative word, the vulnerable and personal subject matter of emo lyrics are what catalyzed the separation from the punk scene in the first place. not only is emo hallmarked by its confessional lyrics, but emo fans (even of the stereotypical tv-movie variety the book seems to be leaning into) are known for wearing their "hearts on their sleeves" and writing cringey earnest poetry and such. so what's with the disaffected snark? it felt very odd.
i'm totally willing to accept the book as satire in the vein of the collegehumor/cracked.com milieu when it comes to the cultural stuff, but that doesn't change the main problem i have with the book not really seeming to understand what actual emo sound entails and how the emo scene originated and evolved.
it's also horribly dated, which isn't the book's fault- it came out in 2007, so it not only constantly references myspace, but predates the entire emo revival sound that arguably now defines the genre. tiger's jaw, modern baseball, later bands like remo drive, sorority noise, etc hadn't debuted (and don't @ me on tiger's jaw technically predating the book when they didn't release their self titled until 2008, you ain't slick)
instead of reading this, you can take roughly ten minutes and listen to: a rites of spring song, a sunny day real estate song, a the hotelier song (in that order) and boom you have a better overview of emo history and musical evolution than anything this book can provide. ...more
This is exactly what the title implies- short, anecdotal portraits of various Soviet figures and the author's impressions of them. As such it's very sThis is exactly what the title implies- short, anecdotal portraits of various Soviet figures and the author's impressions of them. As such it's very subjective, but nonetheless an interesting snapshot in time. Lots of Bolshevik/Menshevik conflict and intra-party infighting. The sections on the minor figures are most interesting, as for the larger figures (ie Lenin, Trotsky) we've basically heard it all before- Lunacharsky even notes this in the Lenin section. Stalin is notably absent. Excerpt (on Plekhanov, Lenin, Trotsky) on redsails: https://redsails.org/revolutionary-si......more
What could I possibly add to the discussion surrounding this work, which has elicited polarized reactions for nearly fifty years?
A lot has been said What could I possibly add to the discussion surrounding this work, which has elicited polarized reactions for nearly fifty years?
A lot has been said of Hite's sloppy methodology, which I don't disagree with, but I think this work still stands a valuable contribution to feminist scholarship and the field of sociology in a few ways: 1. as a time capsule of the 60-70s sexual revolution and its contemporary politics and ideals, 2. a pioneering piece in elevating female voices re: the female body and sexual experience, making many women feel heard for the first time long before anonymously posting on the internet was an option, and 3. as a bomb that went off and forever altered the way we approach frank discussions of sexuality.
It might sound strange, but although this work is both a (somewhat amateur) statistical study and packed to the gills with incredibly explicit firsthand sexual details, the primary emotion it struck in me was a sense of profound melancholy. There is a pervasive sense of shame in the anonymous responses, an attitude around the subject that society certainly has not fully shaken off (for example, I have a suspicion that some of the one star ratings ranting about her methodology are not actually statistical purists but rather are uncomfortable with the material). I also felt a deep sense of respect and sadness for Shere Hite herself- whether you think she was a brave pioneer for publishing this or merely a smut-peddler, the ensuing wave of misogynistic hatred that followed her publishing this work basically ruined her life, but she changed the field of sociology and societal discourse around sex forever.
I would be incredibly interested to see the documentary "The Disappearance of Shere Hite" that premiered this year at Sundance. ...more
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