The book that changed me: falling for Eve Babitz's Sex and Rage

In this series, writers nominate a book that changed their life - or at least their thinking.

I first read Eve Babitz at the tail end of the 20th century, holed up in the rumpus room of my parent's house in north suburban Brisbane in exile from my bad behaviour on the Gold Coast.

I'd found Eve by accident, trawling through all the literature I could find written about Los Angeles. I was doing a PhD, trying