Serena Dandini (photo by Gianmarco Chieregato).
QWhen I was a teenager, like many of my peers, I dreamed of California. The famous song of the Mamas and Papas California Dreamin’ it was the perfect anthem to accompany our desire to escape, not only towards a warm and welcoming place but above all towards a free life, far from the winter of our austere and traditional families.
Not everyone has managed to undertake the famous journey but on the other hand numerous films have kept alive the myth of this land where it is always summer and existence seems to be necessarily happier.
Then came the immense writer Joan Didion, a real Californian, to explain to us that we had fallen into a mistake and our veneration has moved to New York, a land of less futile appetites but Los Angeles with its sunny charm has remained in our hearts.
The myth of beauty and the lightness of its uses and customs has been ruined from the fatal parables of many of its protagonists but is still a source of inspiration for many authors and those who have seen BabylonDamien Chazelle’s latest film, if he survived a three-hour and nine-minute descent into hell, he still felt a thrill of pleasure.
California, with a few exceptions, is said to have spawned no great writers and that the culture in those sunny lands is little frequented, certainly less than surfing and poolside parties. And yet if Marilyn Monroe had written a novel she who knows her… perhaps she would have given Arthur Miller a hard time.
“My Hollywood” by Eve Babitz (Bompiani).
I take this gamble because I recently discovered a blonde, charming and bra-worthy writer who has written some memorable books but perhaps because it is beautiful, sensual and self-deprecating, it has not been taken seriously by literary salons.
Born and raised in California among palm trees, convertible cars and memorable parties, her name is Eve Babitz and luckily Bompiani has republished his books. His first memoir-novel from 1974 is currently in bookstores, My Hollywoodmasterfully translated by Tiziana Loporto.
Babitz’s book is like a hidden treasure, irresistible personal account of the Californian adventures of a free and uninhibited girl, a true hymn to her city full of sarcasm and intelligence. Unfortunately the writer was recently rediscovered and in the last years of her life she was unable to enjoy her belated revaluation due to a bad accident: a bitter fate for a pen of great value.
All articles by Serena Dandini
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