Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent

(But Some Were)

Eve Babitz was never more electric than when she was writing letters. In this first-of-its-kind collection, her correspondence takes center stage, revealing the voice she wielded with unmatched charm: candid yet mischievous, glamorous yet razor-sharp, effortlessly funny and startlingly perceptive.

Consider a 1979 letter in which she recounts how a note she dashed off to a Vogue editor—describing her move to Santa Monica, the skating, the Rodeo Drive gloss—was published almost exactly as written. “It’s the kind of writing I do best, letters,” she boasts with playful bravado, delighted that her private wit has suddenly appeared on every newsstand.

That same wit and vitality animate this remarkable gathering of letters to and from some of her most famous friends, lovers, idols, and rivals, including Joan Didion, Joseph Heller, Annie Leibovitz, Ed Ruscha, Anne Rice, and Steve Martin. Sparkling with personality and alive with the cultural energy of her era, this collection captures Babitz at her most intimate and incandescent.