Play It As It Lays (FSG Classics)

Great book, came in perfect condition!

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 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.My Thoughts: Joining the journey of Maria Wyeth in Play It as It Lays: A Novel felt like a descent. A slow unraveling of a woman who has found no meaning in her life, and who will end up with nothing left.Mariah has finally come full circle and is under the care of psychiatrists, in a place where she can turn her life over to others.In a non-linear narrative, we watch Mariah’s life in flashbacks. Anything she sees in the world around her can send her back to moments in another time or place. Some happy moments, and as she grasps for feelings of connection, she can hang on a little longer. Images of her daughter Kate feel the most poignant, and sometimes she seems to be grasping for time with her again, but she also realizes that these hopes are impossible.Watching a young woman destroy herself slowly, and seeing those around her enable her, felt like an insidious train wreck. Self-destruction takes time, but when it finally happens, you almost feel relieved. A beautifully written story that literally depressed me. 4.5 stars.

I originally discovered Play It as It Lays on a list of books that everyone should read at some point in their life. Thinking this was a pretty prestigious distinction, I quickly tried to find it in a local store or thrift shop. Turns out, this book was a lot harder to find than others (not even on Kindle!), making me want it that much more.A novel in snippets, Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays begins with three passages that are narrated in first person by three of the main characters- Maria, her husband Carter, and their friend Helene. The rest of the book is comprised of 84 pieces of lyrical prose written in the third person from Maria’s point of view. What emerges from these pieces is a glimpse into the blurry world of a depressed, would-be starlet, wife, and mother whose world has essentially fallen apart and stopped.It seemed to me that Maria is an actress with nothing but a lot of money and a lot of time on her hands. She is a beautiful woman with blank eyes that cares about nothing and no one. Her world is bleak and is one you shouldn’t visit for too long otherwise it will completely suck the life out of you. This book made me feel the same way that The Bell Jar did- totally hopeless.Aside from the beautiful lyrical prose Didion presents, I think the inner struggle in Maria is what makes the story worth reading. The book covers topics such as depression, drugs, abortion, and affairs. Keep in mind that this book first came out in the 1970’s, and think of what a shock this must have been. I imagine women and their friends secretly passed this book around in a shushed manner, gossiping and discussing the taboo topics Didion covered.This book was the hangover of a 1970’s Hollywood party- the booze wasn’t strong enough, cars not fast enough, and people not interesting enough anymore. There was bleakness to the world after everyone partied too hard for too long and Maria was the perfect person to portray that through. This book was simply an ugly, beautiful disaster. And Didion put it all down on paper for us to be depressed about for years to come.

That alternate world we know as "Hollywood" has always fascinated me, so I had no problem getting interested in this book. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you can accept people and things for what they are ("play it as it lays") without too many moral judgments; and, if it doesn't bother you to read about things like unconventional behavior, vague reality, desolation and despair; then you just might like it. I find myself very sympathetic to the main character, actress Maria Wyeth, and her friend, BZ, a producer involved in her personal life. I relate to many of their feelings and actions. Others will find them guilty of a good deal of wrongdoing. But I say, remove the blinders and you may see yourself in these pages. Technically, the book is an easy read. The prose is concise - one short sentence can generate a volume of pictures - and loaded with bitter wit. One more thing: if, as I have read, this is supposed to be a depiction of the crass and empty society of the late 60's, I don't find that our society has made any progress, since today's average American aspires to little more than owning a gas-guzzling SUV, staying attached to a cell phone and vacationing in DisneyWorld. I'll put today's crassness and emptiness up against that of the 60's any day.

I love this book and quick delivery! Very satisfying