Play it as it lays: a novel.
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, c1970.
Physical Desc:
214 pages ; 22 cm.
Status:
Sacramento Room
SPE fic Didion SAA
Description
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 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).
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.
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).
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Sacramento Room
SPE fic Didion SAA
Library Use Only
Location
Call Number
Status
Sutter County Main Branch
FICTION Didion, J.
Due Sep 7, 2024
Woodland Public Library
FICTION Didion
In Transit
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Subjects
LC Subjects
Abortion -- Fiction.
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Fiction.
Las Vegas (Nev.) -- Fiction.
Mojave Desert -- Fiction.
Motion picture actors and actresses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.
Motion picture industry -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.
Psychologically abused women -- Fiction.
Selflessness (Psychology) -- Fiction.
Special collections -- Sacramento Public Library.
Wife abuse -- Fiction.
Women -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Fiction.
Las Vegas (Nev.) -- Fiction.
Mojave Desert -- Fiction.
Motion picture actors and actresses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.
Motion picture industry -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.
Psychologically abused women -- Fiction.
Selflessness (Psychology) -- Fiction.
Special collections -- Sacramento Public Library.
Wife abuse -- Fiction.
Women -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.
Other Subjects
More Details
Format:
Book
Edition:
1st ed.
Language:
English
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Didion, J. (1970). Play it as it lays: a novel. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Didion, Joan. 1970. Play It As It Lays: A Novel. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Didion, Joan, Play It As It Lays: A Novel. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970.
MLA Citation (style guide)Didion, Joan. Play It As It Lays: A Novel. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
20fe0260-3280-27ca-b282-17c7b5162485
QR Code
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Sep 07, 2024 10:46:12 AM |
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Last File Modification Time | Sep 07, 2024 10:53:15 AM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Sep 07, 2024 10:46:23 AM |
MARC Record
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003 | OCoLC | ||
005 | 20041110103857.0 | ||
008 | 700806s1970 nyu 000 1 eng | ||
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250 | |a 1st ed. | ||
260 | |a New York : |b Farrar, Straus & Giroux, |c c1970. | ||
300 | |a 214 p. ; |c 22 cm. | ||
650 | 0 | |a Psychologically abused women |v Fiction. | |
650 | 0 | |a Selflessness (Psychology) |v Fiction. | |
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650 | 0 | |a Abortion |v Fiction. | |
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