Weetzie Bat

This sumptuous, inclusive, achingly loving, and lovable novel is the first book I remember reading and thinking…this makes me want to be a writer.

Weetzie and her offbeat group of loved ones live in an LA painted five shades more magical by Block’s descriptions of it. As sweetly as she captures the diverse set of characters, the gift I treasure most in this story is how Block also captures the atmosphere of places: it’s like she’s dug underneath the surface to what makes them matter. 

I love Weetzie Bat for its generous-hearted treatment of love in all of its myriad aspects. Weetzie Bat, a high school senior, is one of the great characters in young adult literature. She lives in a magical Los Angeles, where she finds her true love in My Secret Agent Lover Man; and where her best friend Dirk, who is gay, finds his true love in a boy named Duck. The specter of AIDS threatens their relationship but in the end, to the reader’s delight, love conquers all. The book is brilliantly written in Block’s signature style, which has been influenced… show more.

Weetzie Bat was the first book I can remember reading that saw what a special city Los Angeles is. I fell in love with it when I was young for the way she depicts the brilliant mess of this oasis, the rainbow trees blooming, the spluttering florescent lights in depressing Hollywood apartments, the scent of jasmine and gasoline lingering in the air. The plot of this book is a fun romp through the 70s LA punk scene, capturing some amazing glimpses of counter-cultural characters, but in some ways, for me, that’s beside the point. On sensory force alone, Block is… show more.