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Play It as It Lays

Series: FSG Classics
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( 92,684 ratings, 11,969 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion is a poignant exploration of existential despair set against the backdrop of 1960s Hollywood. The story follows Maria Wyeth, an actress grappling with personal and professional turmoil, as she navigates a landscape of emotional emptiness and societal pressures. Didion crafts a vivid portrayal of isolation and the search for meaning in an increasingly detached world.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3799

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

If you enjoy exploring themes of existential disillusionment and the fragmented nature of modern life, this tale might captivate you. Set in the glitzy yet hollow world of 1960s Hollywood, it delves into the life of a woman grappling with personal turmoil and societal expectations, offering a raw and insightful look at the human condition.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays captures the mood of an entire generation, the ennui of contemporary society reflected in spare prose that blisters and haunts the reader.

Set in a place beyond good and evil—literally in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the barren wastes of the Mojave Desert, but figuratively in the landscape of an arid soul—it remains, more than three decades after its original publication, a profoundly disturbing novel. Riveting in its exploration of a woman and a society in crisis and stunning in the still-startling intensity of its prose.

Series: FSG Classics

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    A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays captures the mood of an entire generation, the ennui of contemporary society reflected in spare prose that blisters and haunts the reader. Set in a place beyond good and evil—literally in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the barren wastes of the Mojave Desert, but...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion is widely praised for its vivid depiction of 1960s Hollywood and its exploration of themes like existential ennui, personal despair, and the search for meaning. Reviewers often commend Didion's prose for its precision and emotional depth, creating an unsettling yet compelling narrative. The book's protagonist, Maria Wyeth, is highlighted for her complex and nuanced portrayal, resonating with readers for her intense introspection and the portrayal of stark realities.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780374529949

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 November 2005

Country: United States

Imprint: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc

Edition: 2nd Second Edition, Revised ed.

Contributors:

  • Introduction by David Thomson

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 208.0mm

Weight: 204g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Joan Didion (1934-2021) was the National Book Award-winning author of many works of fiction and nonfiction. After earning a Bachelor's degree in English at the University of California, Berkeley, she started her literary career writing articles and essays for Vogue, Mademoiselle, Life, The Saturday Evening Post, and National Review, establishing herself as a prominent member of the New Journalism movement. Her books include The White Album, Play It As It Lays, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, Didion's revelatory memoir The Year of Magical Thinking was adapted as a one-woman stage show starring Vanessa Redgrave on Broadway. She also wrote several screenplays with her husband John Gregory Dunne, including Panic in Needle Park with Al Pacino, the second remake of A Star is Born with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and an adaptation of her own Play It As It Lays with Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins.

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