Weetzie Bat

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block is a Young Adult novel and #1 in the Dangerous Angels series. First published in 1989 is something of a cult classic in North America and I first learned of it via some friends across the pond. A few months ago I was very much aware of the controversy surrounding a Christian group's legal claim demanding the right to publicly burn a copy of Baby Be-Pop, the fifth book in the series. After reading Nymeth's review this week of the series I decided to finally pick my unread copy of Weetzie Bat off the shelf. Further reviews of the subsequent Dangerous Angels books will follow in due course when I borrow them from the library; I don't own them although their bright colours would make wonderful additions to my coloured shelves.


The eponymous Weetzie Bat lives in a surreal Los Angeles, aptly referred to as Shangri-L.A., that is at once the 1980s punk glam era mixed with glamorous 1950s Hollywood with components from an undetermined dreamland. 102 pages follow Weetzie and Dirk -her gay best friend- in their quest for love or, as Block's slang calls it, a "duck" each. They also suffer loss and Weetzie is gifted a genie in a lamp who grants her the obligatory three wishes, which prompts a highly amusing exchange.

Weetzie could see him - it was a man, a little man in a turban, with a jewel in his nose, harem pants, and curly-toed slippers.
'Lankie lizards!' Weetzie exclaimed.
'Greetings,' said the man in an odd voice, a rich, dark purr.
'Oh, shit!' Weetzie said.
'I beg your pardon? Is that your wish?'
'No! Sorry, you just freaked me out.'
'I am the genie of the lamp, and I am here to grant you three wishes,' the man said.
Weetzie began to laugh, maybe a little hysterically.

Weetzie's wishes come true, to an extent, and her and Dirk find their ducks and all live in a house together but not happily ever after. Weetzie has a baby fathered by Dirk and his lover and they become an unconventional -yet happy- family. Block's magical plot tackles serious and thought-provoking themes; she progressively engages with homosexuality, AIDS, abortion, and the postmodern family. In terms of subject matter and the interesting cast of characters I could see Weetzie Bat as a young adult's version of Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin; it was entirely plausible to me that these characters could later move to 28 Barbery Lane and live under the caring eye of Mrs Madrigal.

Block's world is highly original and exceedingly quirky; her language and use of pretend colloquialisms is unique yet believable. Some of the content is cutesy and saccharine but interspersed with emotive sections that balance the narrative, ensuring it doesn't come across as overly twee. I enjoyed Block's writing style although some of it -like Weetzie's "Lankie lizards" exclamation above- is a little much; other examples are novel and create beautiful images. I enjoyed my brief glimpse into the curiously dark fairy-tale world of Weetzie Bat etc. and plan to visit again soon.

A couple of passages that I particularly liked:

A kiss about apple pie à la mode with the vanilla creaminess melting in the pie heat. A kiss about chocolate, when you haven't eaten chocolate in a year. A kiss about palm trees speeding by, trailing pink clouds when you drive down the Strip sizzling with champagne. A kiss about spotlights fanning the sky and the swollen sea spilling like tears all over your legs.

Weetzie was pregnant. She felt like a Christmas package. Like a cat full of kittens. Like an Easter basket of pastel chocolate-malt eggs and solid-milk-chocolate bunnies, and yellow daffodils and doll-house-sized jelly-bean eggs.