Francesca Lia Block

A young woman comes to terms with an horrific event from her childhood, with a little help from a pint-sized pixie named Mab.

I remember the first time I read this book. I started it right before bed. I read a big chunk, then tried to sleep. I just couldn't. I needed to finish the story; I needed to see how things would play out for Barbie and Mab, Todd and Griffin. I got up, headed downstairs, and finished it. Then I cried my eyes out.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am in awe of show more Francesca Lia Block. In some ways, her writing is very simple. Her work has much in common with poetry; it's brief and concise, and each word is chosen with the utmost care. Her writing is often technically incorrect, but it's never less than evocative. It's a rare FLB novel indeed that doesn't leave me in tears.

Many of her books explore darker themes, and I WAS A TEENAGE FAIRY is no exception. It deals with the effects of child sex abuse. The story itself isn't graphic; there's no gratuitous violence here, and Block plays nothing for shock value. Instead, she delves into Barbie's emotional state before and after the abuse occurs. She submerges us in Barbie's world and lets us see her life through her eyes. The result is an intense, emotional read that cuts into your very soul.

The story is beautifully layered; each piece adds to what's come before to create a deep, complex story that packs a huge wallop despite its brevity. So often, I'd find that some careful turn of phrase illuminated Barbie's situation in such a way that I was sobbing before I realized it. Barbie starts off in a dark place, yes, but there's still so much beauty in here. So much beauty, and so much hope.

I highly recommend this, but please keep in mind that it may be triggering for some readers.

(This review also appears on my blog, Stella Matutina, albeit in a slightly different form). show less

Plot: When Dirk meets Weetzie in high school, they hit it off immediately; they wear the coolest clothes and they drive around Los Angeles in their "slinkster cool" car. They form an unconventional family when Duck and My Secret Agent Lover Man come into the picture. As a family they create movies and then one day, Weetzie decides to have a baby. She has the baby with Duck and Dirk, which upsets My Secret Agent Lover Man, but he gets over it and brings his child, Witch Baby, in order to live show more with them as well. It's a happy ending for all the characters involved.

Evaluation: When Dirk's grandma Fifi dies, she leaves Weetzie a "golden thing," which Weetzie rubs and a genie comes out, and he grants her three wishes. It's elements like these that make the novel fantastical and attracts readers. I enjoyed the fact that all of a sudden she had all these wishes granted and Dirk found the love of his life and she found her own love. The book showed an unconventional family that accepts and supports each other. When Duck runs away because he is overwhelmed by his friend's death, Dirk doesn't give up on him, he searches for his partner and brings him back to the family and continues to love him. Similarly, when Secret Agent Lover Man leaves Weetzie because she decided to have a baby with Duck and Dirk, she still welcomes him back into her life and loves him even though he had an affair that produced a child. Perhaps none of these things would happen in real life, but it's kind of cool to see that Block has created this loving utopia within her novel. It's different and sweet and I think that's what drew me into reading the novel even though it was assigned reading. ;-)

Personally, I enjoyed Block's little details in the story because she painted the characters of Weetzie and Dirk so clearly. For example, they love Jayne Mansfield movies, such as The Girl Can't Help It. The outfits that they wear fascinated me when I read the book. Weetzie wears pink Harlequin sunglasses, an old fifties' taffeta dress covered with poetry written in glitter or dresses made from kids' sheets that have Disney characters on them. I think I want to wear those outfits myself! I loved how Block used tackiness and the styles of old Hollywood to create characters that have original styles - I wanted to meet them.

This novel really went into a direction that I didn't expect. When I first started reading it, I didn't think there would be a magic genie involved. The relationships between the characters are kind and loving, and it almost seems as if the reader is only getting Weetzie's perspective on her life. In other words, maybe she is creating this perfect world for herself in order to protect herself from the outside world, which is filled with sadness. The death of Weetzie's father is a pretty devastating moment for Weetzie, but it shows that she probably isn't acknowledging all the problems in her life. It's quite clear that her father is depressed, but Weetzie doesn't really do anything to save him besides trying to convince him to come back to Hollywood, a place that he hated to begin with. It seems that Weetzie lives a kind of life that has fluffiness and sugar coated happiness just like Hollywood movies, whereas her father didn't view Hollywood in the same vein and was probably more in touch with reality.

I really had never read a book like this before, so I don't know if I can compare it to anything. Some novels are just originals and I think that's probably why Weetzie Bat was snapped up and published rather quickly. I also think I'll probably go on to read the other Weetzie Bat books that are out there because this narrative just fascinated me. show less

Well, I think it's time for me to finally say goodbye to Francesca Lia Block.

I consumed everything by her as a kid. Dangerous Angels pretty much changed everything I thought I could do with my writing. I Was a Teenage Fairy showed me what other dangerous things I could be reading. I was really wrapped up in her for years and if we're talking "writers that kinda changed your life" she's way up there on the list.

But...revisiting her? I just feel like I never know what she's trying to say.

I get show more the surface level. Problem is, now that I'm no longer scandalized and lured in by Cigarettes and The Vague Drugs and Fantastical Descriptions of Kissing, there is nothing but the surface level for me and her. Her writing seems glossy, and pretty, but totally vapid. She loves her stomping grounds of drug-addled, glamorous white chick LA, but in this book every time that showed up I just wanted to skip to the next story. It was a constant struggle to feel anything. I mean ANYTHING.

And that sucks a little, because whatever magic I felt as a kid/preteen has been completely sucked out of her writing. It's frustrating because I can see all the pieces but it sometimes genuinely feels like she doesn't want to bother to hammer it all together into something satisfying. Maybe she can write a story about that, all wrapped up in a metaphor of delicate femininity and depressed-boy-blandness. show less

An omnibus containing the first five Weetzie Bat novels, which I'll review separately below:

Weetzie Bat:

This one was far better than I remembered. This was my fourth reading, and I enjoyed it as much now as I did the first time. Block is a daring, unconventional author who manages to evoke a wonderful sense of feel and place by layering scenes. The story unfolds in a series of short bursts, each of which builds upon all the others to tell this beautiful, if somewhat disjointed, tale.

I highly show more recommend this, but it's definitely not for everyone. Block's writing is disjointed, and it can be difficult to get a sense of the story's chronology. She also disregards many technical rules in order to create particular effects. Those with an interest in surreal stories and magical realism are most likely to enjoy this. People who prefer their books a bit more linear and grounded probably won't like it. (4 stars)

Witch Baby:

I'd read this twice before, and while I found it interesting enough it never really spoke to me. It did this time through, and in a big way. I think I'm finally in the perfect place to really understand Witch Baby.

Block does a wonderful job of fleshing out this misunderstood soul who feels like an outsider within her own family. Witch Baby's situation came alive for me. I could feel the tension between her and the others, and I could see what drove her to act as she did. The book was a beautiful portrait not only of this one character but of unconventional family life as a whole. I found it deeply affecting.

It affected me on such a personal level, in fact, that I'm not sure I can write a proper review for it. Suffice it to say that it meant a lot to me. The book finally clicked. (4 stars)

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys:

While I enjoyed Witch Baby quite a bit more the third time through, Cherokee still didn't really do it for me. The book is much more linear than the previous two; there are clearly defined scenes that flow into one another with a definite sense of chronology, compared to the fragmentary approach Block used in the first books. There's quite a lot of buildup, and the metaphors are more obvious. It made for an enjoyable read, but not a truly affecting one. My favourite thing about Block is the way that she layers events and lets the reader determine what they mean to her. I didn't feel as though this book allowed me to become as involved as I did with Weetzie Bat or Witch Baby, and my enjoyment suffered because of it.

I sound like I didn't enjoy it. I did. It just suffers in comparison to the rest of the series. (3.5 stars)

Missing Angel Juan:

The story has a wonderful immediacy. Block uses first person present tense, which draws the reader straight into Witch Baby’s head and lets her live the story alongside the protagonist. There’s some gorgeous imagery as Witch Baby wanders the streets of New York, following Angel Juan’s trial and hobnobbing with her ghostly almost-grandfather. I couldn’t put it down the first time through. I felt everything Witch Baby felt. I went everywhere she went. Her search became my own. I emerged from the book in tears, certain that this was my favourite of the Weetzie Bat books.

I still gloried in the imagery this time through, but I found it difficult to sink all the way in. I’d be hard into the story, then a stray idea would shove me right back out again. Block gets rather abstract at times; when you’re involved with the story, it’s easy to glide right over these bits, but when you’re hovering slightly above the action they come across as much more vague and distanced.

Perhaps this is the sort of story that means more when you don’t know how it ends. Since I already knew where Witch Baby’s quest would lead here, I didn’t have that desperate need to see my worst fears confirmed or denied. Or perhaps I’ve reread it at the wrong time. Either way, it didn’t mean as much to me this time through. I could appreciate Witch Baby’s journey in an intellectual sense, but she didn’t speak to me as she once did. (3.5 stars)

Baby Be-Bop:

This one still did.

It's just gorgeous. Block's very best books illuminate her characters' inner lives in such a way that the reader can instantly relate to them, and I think this might be the best one of all.

There's so much to love. Dirk is an easy character to relate to; while not every reader will have dealt with the same issues he tackles here, I doubt there are many people who couldn't relate to his desire to find acceptance and love. Block handles these themes beautifully, and she dresses the whole package up in some of the nicest imagery around. Her vision of Los Angeles is a treat, as always, and some does some amazing things with Dirk's family stories.

I can't recommend it highly enough. And since it's a prequel, you don't have to have read the rest of the series in order to get something out of it. (4.5 stars)

Longer reviews of both Missing Angel Juan and Baby Be-Bop are available on my blog, Stella Matutina. show less