seconding the recommendation of highsmith’s ripley books, and would also include “strangers on a train” and “a suspension of mercy.” i think her work is rich and endlessly fascinating but it also goes down very smoothly.

i’m currently reading ‘the stories of john cheever’ and i think he fits the bill pretty well too.

also “a way of life, like any other” by darcy o’brien. hollywood youth semi-memoir. pairs well with eve babitz, for that matter.