“I never thought of myself as an ‘influencer.’”
JULIA PAGNAMENTA: In the preface to your first book, Eve’s Hollywood (1974), you write, “I believe that places should be capitalized . . . West, especially, is a serious place that should ALWAYS be capitalized. It also sounds more adventurous to go West than to go west.” The spirit and sense of a place—genius loci—are such prominent parts of your writing. How does sense of place influence your writing?
EVE BABITZ: I was a visual artist first, my collages and drawings, and I really like the way certain words look, like West rather than west.
I love reading descriptions of places. It’s how a