A “scathing novel” of one woman’s path of self-destruction in 1960s Hollywood—by the New York Times–bestselling author of The White Album (The Washington Post Book World). Spare, elegant, and terrifying, Play It as It Lays is the unforgettable story of a woman and a society come undone. Raised in the ghost town of Silver Wells, Nevada, Maria Wyeth is an ex-model and the star of two films … Wyeth is an ex-model and the star of two films directed by her estranged husband, Carter Lang. But in the spiritual desert of 1960s Los Angeles, Maria has lost the plot of her own life. Her daughter, Kate, was born with an “aberrant chemical in her brain.” Her long-troubled marriage has slipped beyond repair, and her disastrous love affairs and strained friendships provide little comfort. Her only escape is to get in her car and drive the freeway—in the fast lane with the radio turned up high—until it runs out “somewhere no place at all where the flawless burning concrete just stopped.” But every ride to nowhere, every sleepless night numbed by pills and booze and sex, makes it harder for Maria to find the meaning in another day.
Told with profound economy of style and a “vision as bleak and precise as Eliot’s in ‘The Wasteland’,” Play It as It Lays ruthlessly dissects the dark heart of the American dream (The New York Times). It is a searing masterpiece “from one of the very few writers of our time who approaches her terrible subject with absolute seriousness, with fear and humility and awe” (Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Times Book Review).
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I don’t know why people always refer to Hemingway as among the best writers of tight, clean writing. Joan Didion is a true master. She has the power to sprinkle a single vivid detail — the scent of cigarette smoke on a jacket, the color of blood on a white sheet — into her spare prose and perfectly evoke an entire scene.
DH and I watched the documentary on Joan Didion and I immediately rushed to the store for books. PLAY IT AS IT LAYS was heartbreaking to read, and the style was so gorgeous.
Well-spun story of a former actress dealing with malaise, tragedy, and an unraveling family. Had a bit of a Mad Men type feel, not only because it takes place around the same time period, but also in terms of its vignette narrative style and deliberative character development. Each chapter is no more than a few pages describing a brief episode, yet so much is packed into each section — it’s some of the most efficient and striking storytelling I’ve ever read.
I’ve read this several times since college and each time, it impresses me all the more. The tension inside the main character is expressed so powerfully, you really reach out to her, wanting to save her, knowing she might not be save-able. I love novels that immerse you inside the story so fully. Spare, intense and Californian, a fierce combination.
Thought provoking. Sad story of a troublesome time in a women’s life. Very well written.
I’ve read Didion’s other books and was looking forward to this, but I’m not sure what the big whoop is. Basically what I got from the story is very depressed.
Essentially about a woman who marries, and divorces poorly, and is incapable of feeling, the story goes from Vegas to LA to east of Vegas, where it’s 118 degrees in an un-air-conditioned dive. Then back to, oh, the book is over. Huh?
And they made a movie from this book in the sixties. How is it possible? There is nothing to this story!
Dated and hard to follow
Sorry ,just couldn’t get into it.
Fine novel from a wonderful writer. Maybe not as good as some of her essays, or Run River.
The worst book I have ever read. Now I know why I hate the Hollywood crowd and everything they stand for. What a disgusting bunch of characters. Joan Didion is off my reading list.
Pretty typical of this author..interesting, original, sad
Did not like it. Couldn’t see any point to it.
The characters were hard to care about.
They were wasting there lives.
Didion is a master of understatement in this work about the seamier sides of Hollywood in the 60s, and as a reflection of American culture at the time. Without her stye being nearly as ornamental/drug-addled, I place her alongside Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson in writing about the era.
I teach this book in my fiction writing class almost every semester as an example of Minimalism and also Subtext and also Melodrama, the good kind. The melodrama is about the inescapable trap Maria finds herself in, one she can’t use force to break out of because it’s much bigger than she is. She also can’t call for help because she happens to fall into a category of people that her society doesn’t listen to: divorced women unaffiliated with a man who have lost custody of a child because of substance abuse issues. The action of the novel involves the efforts of everyone around Maria to keep her in the trap where she will be ineffectual and unable to break out, unable to recover her daughter, Kate, and unable to do harm to those who constructed the trap: male Hollywood moguls and directors who have gotten rich on an amoral system that has gradually taken away Maria’s happiness, sanity and family and left her fighting for her life and her daughter almost completely on her own. An ideal Me-Too Movement story.
I don’t think I read this book the correct way yet. I ow own the book; I’ll get back to you.
I truly did not understand this book. I seen this book in the 2nd season of “You”. I read all good reviews on it but I am truly confused. It kept me intrigued all the way until the end, but when it was finished all I could think was what did I just read? Maybe I need to re-read it
Maybe this is a weird comparison, but I found this book to be a lot like the movie “Melancholia” as a representation of depression. They both capture the feeling of depression in their disjointed pacing, the moments of engaging in erratic behavior for reasons you can’t articulate, the listlessness and the small details of life that break your heart. “Play It As It Lays” is not at all fanciful, and does not have as much beautiful imagery (although it does have striking imagery). The tone is certainly different from “Melancholia,” but they capture something similar.
For the first half or so of the book I could detect that it was resonant but it seemed like it was being dulled by the fact that I do not personally relate to 1960s Hollywood. It wasn’t until later in the book that it started to actually resonate with me on the basis of the depression aspect. It’s possible that on a reread I would tap into the resonance earlier now that I have a better idea of what to focus on- I’m sure the best thing to focus on varies from person to person given how much of the hype surrounding the novel is based on time and place. On some level I wonder if one has to have experienced either depression or 1960s Hollywood in order to really feel this book.
Look, if you read books just for entertainment or to be cheered up or uplifted, this isn’t for you. Same if you absolutely must find the characters likable. But if you’re like me and read to get a fuller understanding of the human experience? This is good. It really captures something.
My only complaint is that I feel like the language it was written in could have been more vivid and evocative. But it’s certainly not bad as it is. Just simple.
who doesn’t like Joanie
D
I read this book many years ago and loved it. Upon this reread and many years of life experience later, I found it self-indulgent and rather boring.