The Best L.A. Non-Fiction Is L.A. Fiction

Ask Joan Didion or Eve Babitz. Heck, ask Nathaniel West. Go re-read "Less Than Zero". The best writing about L.A. is in the form of "fictive memoirs", which is an actual genre description made up just for books like this one. I don't necessarily think Maeby is up there with Didion and Babitz, but she's already as close as she needs to be.

How much of this tracks Maeby's real life? Don't know; don't care. As Steve Martin voiced over in "L.A. Story", "A kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true". This L.A. memoir may not be the truth, but it's as though it's true.

The real question is how well does Maeby nail that truth? I don't know if the host's medicine chest always gets ransacked during dinner parties, but that's true enough. I don't know if someone can have, by my count, almost a dozen different drug dealers under the age of fourteen, but that sounds good. I don't know if you can be as smart, breezy, observant, sharp and focused as Maeby is, while still whacked out, but I suspect there's something to that.

The beauty here is that the fictive memoir allows Maeby to dispense with plot. The story is linear; it's a stream of memories that follows the flow of the heroine's life. Stuff happens. There are incidents. There is drama, humor, love, regret, disappointment, and lots of drugs, that just pass by. Maeby's heroine observes, comments, participates or not, offers lessons and commentary, and just basically takes us on an extended tour of a messed up but thoroughly lived and experienced young life.

This is all heroine all the time. There are lots of incidental characters, (many of whom are memorable and worthy on their own), and lots of L.A.-ness, but it is all filtered through our tour guide. Because she's smart, reasonably honest, and oddly charming and engaging, we go along for the ride. You could change her tone, her style, or her attitude just a bit and the book could be unreadable. All that weight on this one narrator. Luckily for us, she pulls it off. You root for this fictional memoirist and you enjoy her company, and you have a few laughs and a drug addled nightmare together. That's good enough for me.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)