Play It as It LaysPlay It as It Lays
Score Classic
What it's about
Maria Wyeth is a thirty-one-year-old actress in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, separated from her director husband, whose young daughter is in an institution. Numbed and drifting, she drives the freeways for hours, goes to parties and drifts through affairs, and the novel follows her collapse, told in short, sharp scenes.
Why it's worth reading
It's on TIME's list of the 100 best novels. It's Didion's bleak, brilliant portrait of emptiness in Hollywood.
You'll love it if you liked
The Year of Magical Thinking
Valley of the Dolls
Revolutionary RoadGood to know
It's short and stark. It includes an illegal abortion and a suicide.
By the numbers
- Readers25 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics59 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller24 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Thought-provoking
More by Joan Didion
The Year of Magical Thinking
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
The White AlbumIf you like this, read next
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
The Color Purple
1984
The Lord of the Rings
A Brief History of TimeExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Play It as It Lays worth reading?
Yes. It's on TIME's list of the 100 best novels. It ranks #1,861 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 65.1 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Play It as It Lays about?
Maria Wyeth is a thirty-one-year-old actress in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, separated from her director husband, whose young daughter is in an institution. Numbed and drifting, she drives the freeways for hours, goes to parties and drifts through affairs, and the novel follows her collapse, told in short, sharp scenes.
How long does it take to read Play It as It Lays?
About 5 hours (214 pages), or about 10 days at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Play It as It Lays?
If you liked it, try The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann or Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.