The Thumbnail Book Reviews

by John Q McDonald --- 18 February 1998

Play it as it Lays

by Joan Didion

This is a biting story of a woman driven to absolute alienation from the world by the brutal life she leads as an anonymous Hollywood actress. The people around her are mystified at her dark and depressed state of mind, despite the fact that they are mostly responsible for it. Maria Wyeth reacts to a world of casual sex, drugs, and booze, but also to the tragedy of her daughter and the mystery of her mother. She walks through life in a daze, benumbed to both pain and pleasure. The only person who seems to understand is the mysterious producer, BZ. Didion tells the story in very spare and fast-moving prose. It is often nonlinear and requires a great deal of concentration, but the existential dilemmas ring true. There is even a glimmer of hope for Maria as she looks ahead and dreams of life with her daughter.

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Also by Didion: [Where I was From]

[Other Women Authors]

[Other Books in or about California]