Lola Kirke's Reading List

The Wild West Village author shares her favorite books with Language Arts.

One time I was visiting a very smart and wise friend of mine (she went to HARVARD but tells people, should it come up, that she “went to school in Cambridge”) who lives in the very intellectual city of Berlin. In need of something to entertain myself on my hotly anticipated flight home (I love country music and fine dining. Germany, it seems, does not), I scanned her bookshelves for some reading material. To my dismay, I found it populated solely by the very books I had pretended to read for college — Kant, Kant, and more Kant with a smidge of Baudrillard.

“But darling,” I asked, as she wrestled her toddler into a sweater. “Don’t you have any good books?”

“What do you mean ‘good books’?” she replied, as said toddler kicked her in the face.

“You know,” I demurred. “Like books about girls-having-fun?”

The child was screaming now, loud enough that I almost couldn’t hear her suggest I borrow her copy of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. I pretended I hadn’t, then spent the eight-hour journey compiling this list of good books about girls having fun (or at least trying to) instead. You’re welcome.

Lit by Mary Karr

Okay, so I guess it really depends what your definition of fun is. (Here, Karr spends a lot of time detailing dizzying hangovers and her journey towards sobriety, among other things). But recovery is a journey and a journey is sort of like an adventure and ADVENTURES CAN BE VERY FUN. Plus, Karr’s writing is so good it literally makes me want to throw up. Like the way she uses language unmoors me, giving me the feeling of being at sea. A turbulent sea. But one I want to swim in nonetheless.

Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin

If you prescribe to the old adage “never judge a book by its cover” I suggest you open your mind a little and do. This book has one of the best covers and also is one of the best. Whether she’s writing about working in hospitals, cleaning houses, or starting a May/December romance with one of her son’s friends, Berlin does not disappoint.

Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill

Sex work. Suburbia. Artists’ lofts in the 80s. Gaitskill’s writing makes me want to commit plagiarism.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I suppose it’s more of a cautionary tale about what happens when girls seek out fun, but girl knew how to shop and knew what she wanted. To this day, I think of Emma with every tap of my credit card.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Okay, I was very young when I read this, but despite its bleak description of post-war England (nauseatingly grey) and impotence, it managed to pierce my marijuana-addled mind and make me fall recklessly into the love affair at its core. It took me many years to understand the book was about anal — and thank god because I can’t with that one. Missionary please!

Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz

I suggest all self-respecting women read Babitz’s entire catalogue, but this one is probably my favorite. She’s a master class in perspective and attitude. Don’t be a bore! Live a little!

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