DIDION & BABITZ
By Lili Anolik
The literary giants Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, both ambitious daughters of California, navigated the same vibrant circles of Hollywood during the 1960s and ’70s. Their lives, intertwined in fascinating ways, came to a poignant close just days apart in December 2021. In her insightful work, “Didion & Babitz,” journalist Lili Anolik presents them as opposing facets of the same identity, embodying what she describes as “two halves of American womanhood.” She explores their contrasting yet complementary essences — juxtaposing the superego with the id, Thanatos with Eros, and yang with yin. However, despite the numerous parallels in their lives, Anolik struggles to convincingly portray them as the “secret twins” and “soul mates” she aspires for them to be.
In a series of candid asides directed at her readers, Anolik expresses her ambition to “see” both women “plainly.” Yet, while her understanding of Babitz is comprehensive and personal — stemming from her research for the 2019 book “Hollywood’s Eve” — her grasp of Didion appears tenuous at times. Anolik provocatively suggests that the only true lens through which to view Didion is through the “glass” of Babitz.
Regarding Babitz, Anolik’s admiration shines brightly as she writes with the enthusiasm of a smitten teenager: “If intense fascination is love, then I loved Eve Babitz.” She characterizes Babitz as the “bohemian” counterpart to Didion’s “bourgeois” persona, highlighting her effortless charm with men. This is exemplified in the iconic photograph of Babitz posing nude at a chessboard opposite Marcel Duchamp, captured by the photographer Julian Wasser — the same artist behind one of Didion’s most celebrated images, where she stands beside her Corvette Stingray, cigarette in hand. Anolik candidly reveals her inherent bias against Didion, describing the latter’s persona as “part princess, part wet blanket.” She contends that Didion desired two seemingly irreconcilable aspirations: the democratic fame associated with a popular writer and the aristocratic prestige of a recognized literary genius.
After Babitz’s passing, Anolik ventured into her archives at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Anticipating a collection of disheveled remnants — unpaid bills and takeout menus, since “Eve, after all, was the slob of the world” — she was instead greeted by a surprising find: a 1972 letter addressed to Didion, which had never been sent. This letter, brimming with discussions about art and feminism, poignantly expressed Babitz’s frustrations regarding Didion’s hesitance to engage with Virginia Woolf.
What Anolik discovered was no mere note; rather, it was a “lovers’ quarrel” that unveiled a previously unknown dimension of their relationship. It revealed that Babitz’s feelings for Didion were not only complex but also deeply passionate, compelling her to draft a letter that bore the weight of her grievances and unvoiced emotions.
