Black Swans Reissue Party

A panel of writers and artists celebrate the reissue of Eve Babitz's 1993 short story collection Black Swans. Featuring:

• Stephanie Danler, bestselling author of Sweetbitter


• Zosia Mamet, actress and musician


• Karah Preiss, co-founder of online reading platform Belletrist 


• Jia Tolentino, staff writer at The New Yorker

No one captured the grit and glamour of '70s Los Angeles like Eve Babitz. Following the New York Review of Books reissue of Eve's Hollywood, the "confessional L.A. novel" chronicling her misadventures with Hollywood literati, Babitz is experiencing a literary renaissance. 

Now Black Swans, Babitz's 1993 short story collection, is back in print for a new generation of readers. Black Swans is a collection of nine stories that look back on the 1980s—a decade of dreams, drink, and renewed conservatism. Babitz wanders California telling tales of a changing world. She writes about the Rodeo Gardens, AIDS, learning to tango, and the cemetery of Hollywood, all in the voice Joseph Heller described as "worth one hundred moving pictures.”

Actress Zosia Mamet moderates this conversation with fellow Eve Babitz readers Stephanie Danler, Karah Preiss, and Jia Tolentino. The panelists will read from Black Swans, followed by a discussion on Babitz's relationship to power and sexuality, as well as her influence on the literary landscape today.

Mid-Sentence presents a series of conversations with groundbreaking literary voices. Indie authors and cult favorites explore the intersections between literature and lived experience.

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED

Registration does not guarantee admission. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A stand by line will form 30 minutes before the program.

The Program Room opens at 6 PM.