PLAY IT AS IT LAYS
Perhaps the best known of Joan Didion’s four novels, Play It As It Lays follows the detached, downward spiral of Maria Wyeth, a failed actress in the midst of a divorce with her director-husband.
Flashing with images of the snaking hot asphalt freeways, blue swimming pools, and dusty light of Los Angeles, Play It As It Lays is about the actors, producers, screenwriters and small-time nobodies hoping to score big in the city of angels, who make it what it is.
In bringing their imagination alive on the big screen, everyone in Hollywood resigns themselves to the beautiful, noir-ish nightmare of the city, a land of dreams so artificial that Maria continuously takes barbiturate pills, aimlessly drives on the freeway, hooks up with men who treat her badly, and has an abortion after a secret affair with a married screenwriter in her simultaneously numbing and hedonistic free-fall into self-destruction.
The latent violence of the no man’s land of the West Coast glimmers in what’s shown rather than told, not unlike a wavering mirage in a heat wave. Life might be meaningless and L. A. might be fake, but the game is forever, and Maria keeps playing.
Alexandra Milovanovich / Fairchild Archive / PMC
A Bit of Backstory
“I’ve got a headache. I’m in bed because my head aches.”
Maria says this on page 158 of Play It As It Lays after a night in jail when she sleeps with a B-list actor and drives off in his Ferrari, which he reports to the police—not knowing who she is.
In 1968, Joan Didion wrote about the debilitating migraines that kept her in bed “almost unconscious with pain”, a source of shame for the author who felt she could maneuver her way out of the splitting headaches by denying they existed all together: “character over chemistry,” Didion wrote of a condition that was inevitably physical and couldn’t be willed away.
While the novel significantly differs from Didion’s life, uncanny parallels exist between the author and heroine. In 1978, Joan Didion told The Paris Review she wanted to be an actress: “[I]t’s the same impulse. It’s make-believe. . . The only difference is that being a writer can do it all alone.”
Maria and her husband Carter have a toxic, volatile but ultimately loving relationship, abandoning and coming back to each other, not unlike Didion’s marriage to fellow writer John Dunne, which also trembled dangerously close to the cusp of divorce. A small child, Kate, hovers precariously between the estranged couple, and she’s the only person who softens the glacial actress; Dunne and Didion too had an adopted daughter, Quintana, who Didion called “the center” of her life, a respite from the elitist competitions and hypocrisies of showbiz, the writing world and life in the spotlight.
Just like Maria, Didion also drove a yellow Corvette, and wrote in detail about L. A.’s freeways in the 1988 essay “Los Angeles Days” collected in the 1992 book After Henry. Renowned for her smoking habit due to the iconic monochrome author photographs in which a cigarette almost dependably dangles from Didion’s fingers,Maria also smokes incessantly throughout Play It As It Lays, the cigarettes signaling the larger haze that engulfs her: “. . . a day spent looking at the telephone and lighting cigarettes and putting the cigarettes out and getting glasses of water and looking at the telephone again. . .”
Joan Didion, pictured with her husband John Gregory Dunne, who died in 2003, and their daughter Quintana Ron Donne, who died two years later.
Joan Didion Was…
a Californian, a surveyor of a deteriorating America, a truth-teller who was unafraid to point out when the script had flipped and everyone had forgotten their lines.
“I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was supposed to hear cues, and no longer did. I was meant to know the plot, but all I knew was what I saw,” Didion wrote in The White Album.
“Maybe I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?” Maria echoes in Play It As It Lays.
Julian Wasser
Here’s What We Love About the Book
Play It As It Lays unfolds like a movie. Didion’s cool narration of the horror bubbling just beneath the surface of Hollywood glam heightens the shocking effect of the novel’s events. It’s the same approach Didion used in her cerebral assessments of America’s decline in the ‘60s and ‘70s in Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album.
And then, of course, there is the dialogue, which has the punch of a screenplay. Case in point:
“You told me you’d come,” Carter said. [At this point, Maria and Carter have already been divorced.]
“What for.”
“I want you out there.”
“It’s all gone, you said so yourself.”
“All right,” Carter said. “Stay here and kill yourself. Something interesting like that.”
Joan Didion with her daughter and Abigail McCarthy, Washington, D.C., 1977
Iconic Style
Maria wears a silver vinyl dress the night she sleeps with Johnny Waters, an actor, before driving off in his Ferrari, hurtling towards the edge of nowhere—but looking fabulous as she does it.
Fashion is a way to stay in control, and often underscores the visceral cost of style and wealth in the depraved world of Play It As It Lays. Good taste, after all, is never free. Helene, a trophy wife and Maria’s only ‘friend’, has “sun-streaked hair”” and a “new square emerald” on her finger, driving home the wealth she possesses; nevermind she’s literally getting paid to stay married to BZ, a closeted producer.
In another scene, a group of boys “rifling the glove compartments of parked cars” all wear Levi’s jackets, prototypically American: rebels without a cause.
Anthony Perkins & Tuesday Weld in Play It As It Lays (1972)
Digital Footprint
The original jacket design of Play It As It Lays has become a seminal part of the ‘cool’ book aesthetic on Instagram, appearing alongside Eve Babitz’ Black Swans, Sally Rooney’s bicolored covers, and stacks of Didion’s essay collections.
The snake looping around the front cover while a glowing, geometric sun rises on the dark pink of where the title and the author’s name are printed emits a mystique promising the excesses of the novel itself. It’s no surprise then that more than fifty years after the novel’s publication, images of the cover circulate on the internet, drawing readers into the thrilling world of Didion’s L.A.
Marissa Cooper, The O.C.
Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
The noir-ish atmosphere of Play It As It Lays mirrors the Hollywood Didion observed as a writer, where the Manson murders claimed the life of Sharon Tate, and fading actresses like Maria were a dime a dozen.
In a 2016 in-depth feature on Didion for Vanity Fair, Lili Anolik writes of the time when Tamar Hodel decided to kill herself in the aftermath of a breakup by overdosing on Seconal pills, as her friend, the 17-year-old Michelle Phillips, fell asleep in bed. This same scene provides the ending of Play It As It Lays, but while Hodel survived after friends called an audience, BZ is not so lucky.
Lana Del Rey
A Blueprint for Pop Culture
Maria Wyeth is self-destructive and beautiful, reeling from an abortion, almost past her prime, seeking safety in men who aren’t good for her, and using sex and pills to heighten and dull the pain.
This trope of the Hollywood heroine, misunderstood by the world around her, and reduced to the cruel whims of men, appears in music, TV, and pop culture.
Mischa Barton’s Marissa in The O. C. is the ultimate California golden girl on the brink, dying in a tragic car accident that had the cultural weight of maybe a real event with how it stunned audiences in 2006. In Lana Del Rey’s early music, the artist—who has often been compared to Joan Didion in her psychic renderings of America—sings of a feminine figure falling into the hard and fast life of drugs, sex and fame with L. A. forming a scenic background, particularly in songs like “West Coast”, “Gods and Monsters”, and “Cola.”
Play It As It Lays was a kind of premonition for the fallen it girls of the ‘90s in the era of heroin chic, such as bad girl Winona Ryder’s stint in jail for possessing eight different drugs, or blonde Brittany Murphy’s sudden death from pneumonia after which several, legally-prescribed drugs were found in her bloodstream in the autopsy.
Perhaps most haunting is Kurt Cobain’s 1994 suicide officially from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and persistent rumors that Courtney Love was somehow responsible for his death. The catty, if implausible,popular conspiracy theory—which allegedly pops up in the lyrics of Tori Amos’ thinly-veiled song “Professional Widow”—echoes Maria’s commitment to an asylum after BZ’ suicide, and others like Carter and Helene (unjustly) blaming her for his death.
Courtney Love
Literary Legacy
A millennial and Gen Z engagement with Play It As It Lays from celebrities poses more self-awareness, reflecting on the toxic culture of Hollywood and its effect on women. In her quarantine book club, nepotism baby Kaia Gerber discussed the novel with model-turned-essayist Emily Ratajkowski, who wrote a memoir about her struggle with the male gaze and objectification in 2021.
The Los Angeles Times named Play It As It Lays one of the best fiction novels about L. A., and to this day it remains a hallmark of Didion’s underrated fiction, the most famous novel she’s ever written, which was adapted into the 1972 film of the same name starring Tuesday Weld.
by Iman Sultan
Themes & Prompts
Bleak Portrayal of Existential Despair
Play It As It Lays presents a stark and haunting portrayal of existential despair through the lens of Maria Wyeth, the novel's protagonist. Maria, an actress in Hollywood during the tumultuous 1960s, embodies a sense of profound disillusionment and emptiness. She drifts through life with an emotional detachment that is both chilling and captivating. Didion's prose dissects Maria's inner turmoil, portraying her relentless pursuit of self-indulgence, casual encounters, and a series of self-destructive decisions. Maria's world is a place where meaninglessness pervades every aspect of her existence, leaving her struggling to find a purpose in a world devoid of moral and emotional anchor points.
Prompt—
Joan Didion's exploration of existential despair in Play It As It Lays raises compelling questions about the human condition. What drives individuals to such profound disillusionment and emotional detachment? How does Maria's journey resonate with the sense of meaninglessness that can pervade contemporary society? In a world increasingly defined by individualism and materialism, how do we grapple with the existential questions posed by Didion's portrayal of Maria's life and experiences?
Fragmented Narrative Structure
The novel employs a fragmented narrative structure that mirrors the fractured state of Maria Wyeth's mind. Joan Didion takes readers on a disorienting journey, shifting the narrative between past and present, offering glimpses into Maria's life that are disjointed and non-linear. The fragmented storytelling adds layers of complexity to the narrative, allowing readers to piece together the puzzle of Maria's life, her relationships, and her internal struggles. This narrative technique serves as a profound reflection of Maria's sense of disconnection from reality, making the reader an active participant in the process of understanding her character.
Prompt—
Didion's use of a fragmented narrative structure invites readers to engage deeply with the novel. How does this storytelling technique enhance our understanding of Maria's character and her fractured world? In what ways does the non-linear narrative mirror the unreliability of memory and the complex nature of human consciousness? What does this technique reveal about the challenges of storytelling itself, especially when it comes to conveying the intricacies of the human psyche?
Critique of Hollywood Culture
Play It As It Lays provides a searing critique of the superficial and morally bankrupt culture of Hollywood during the 1960s. Joan Didion peels back the glamorous facade to reveal the emptiness and moral decay that lie beneath. Through Maria Wyeth's experiences and encounters within the entertainment industry, Didion exposes the hollowness of a world consumed by fame, success, and image. The novel portrays the relentless pursuit of personal desires, the commodification of relationships, and the moral compromises that characterize Hollywood's cutthroat environment.
Prompt—
Didion's critique remains relevant today, as contemporary society grapples with similar issues surrounding celebrity culture and the commodification of personal lives. How does the novel shed light on the corrosive effects of pursuing fame and success at any cost? What parallels can be drawn between the 1960s Hollywood depicted in the book and the modern entertainment industry? How does Didion's exploration of Hollywood culture offer a broader commentary on the consequences of prioritizing image and superficiality over authenticity and morality in society?
Alienation and Loneliness
Play It As It Lays delves deeply into the theme of alienation and loneliness through its protagonist, Maria Wyeth. Maria's profound sense of alienation is pervasive throughout the novel, and itmanifests in her inability to connect with those around her, including her estranged husband, her daughter, and her lovers. Her loneliness is palpable as she drifts through a world that seems indifferent to her existence. Maria's emotional detachment and inability to forge meaningful connections become central to the narrative, painting a poignant picture of isolation in the midst of a bustling, chaotic world.
Prompt—
Joan Didion's portrayal of alienation and loneliness prompts readers to reflect on the universality of these emotions. How do Maria's experiences resonate with broader societal trends, particularly in an era marked by digital connectedness but often characterized by emotional disconnection? What does the novel suggest about the human need for meaningful relationships and the consequences of their absence? In what ways does Maria's struggle with alienation and loneliness mirror the challenges faced by individuals in contemporary society?
Existential Search for Meaning
The novel presents Maria Wyeth's journey as an existential search for meaning in a world that appears devoid of purpose. Throughout the novel, Maria grapples with an overwhelming sense of existential despair and emptiness. She embarks on various quests to find meaning, from her encounters with religion and therapy to her pursuit of fleeting, shallow relationships. These pursuits serve as a window into her profound yearning for a sense of purpose and understanding in a universe that often seems indifferent to her struggles.
Prompt—
Maria's search for meaning prompts readers to reflect on their own existential questions. How does Maria's quest for purpose compare to those faced by individuals in today's world? What insights can we draw from her experiences about the human pursuit of meaning and understanding in the face of existential challenges? In a society that often prioritizes material success and instant gratification, what can we learn from Maria's journey about the importance of deeper existential exploration?
Unconventional Female Protagonist
Didion presents readers with an unconventional and enigmatic female protagonist in the form of Maria Wyeth. Maria defies traditional gender roles and expectations, challenging the conventional portrayal of women in literature. She is a complex character marked by her flaws, emotional detachment, and refusal to conform to societal norms. Her journey, characterized by self-discovery and the pursuit of personal agency, offers a unique lens through which to examine the complexities of female identity in a male-dominated world.
Prompt—
This invites readers to consider the broader implications of Maria's character. How does she challenge or subvert traditional gender roles and expectations in literature? In what ways does her character challenge stereotypes about women's roles and experiences? What insights can we draw from Maria's journey about the complexities of female identity and agency, particularly in a society that often imposes rigid expectations on women?