DIDION & BABITZ

Atlantic have dropped this title into the schedule for November and, honestly, I can't think of a better Christmas gift. Let's pick apart the title: Joan Didion + Eve Babitz. Easily my two favourite writers. I have never been happier than when the manuscript dropped into my inbox. Lili Anolik has written a previous book on Babitz but couldn't resist revisiting her as a subject matter when she discovered an (unsent) letter to Joan Didion in Eve's personal letters, following her death in 2021. What emerges is a brilliant exploration of both of their works, their approaches to writing and to life and their relationship with one another. It's also a really evocative depiction of the art scenes in California and New York in the Seventies. The Didion acolytes are probably going to go a little crazy at Anolik's scrutiny of her writing and character, but she's clearly writing about both women with respect, love and admiration.