false 428 14 A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, <i>Play It as It Lays</i> 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. 4703 1970 Play It As It Lays: A Novel total:2561|5:710|4:945|3:706|2:172|1:28| 2561 9820 3586 342 3 5 false false Thu Mar 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 18:51:54 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 23:56:18 -0700 2009 Where I Was From a couple years ago, Didion referred a lot to her novel Play It As It Lays and I thought it sounded really bad. About a year ago I found an old edition someplace with this enormous and brain-numbingly awesome picture of Didion with her cigarette and legendarily...more...]]> 3 10 false false Sun May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 28 12:35:32 -0700 2008 Wed May 20 16:41:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Apr 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 19:53:02 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 15:59:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 17:04:56 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 16:39:12 -0800 2009
So what does one say about a book that is at once and the same time equally infuriating and incisive and compelling? The ba...more...]]> 5 4 true false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 19 18:23:11 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 19 18:31:03 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Mon Nov 03 08:40:41 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 28 09:16:08 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 08:40:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu May 17 07:09:51 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 07:10:48 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Wed Mar 21 09:14:44 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 24 04:31:20 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Fri Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 12:26:36 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 12:39:01 -0700 2008
never having read any of didion's fiction i was immensely curious as to what i would find. her stylistic approach to fiction is very similar to the non-fiction i've read of hers. sentences and thoughts come at you in...more...]]> 3 1 true false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 28 20:56:40 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 12 19:03:25 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat May 19 21:38:50 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 14:44:52 -0800 2007
It’s true, though, she does have an awful big brain for such a little...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 15:20:10 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 21:37:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri May 18 11:26:05 -0700 2007 Wed May 23 19:07:19 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 true false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 10:26:06 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 06:27:37 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Wed Aug 22 10:43:50 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 10:43:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Dec 31 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Wed Jul 30 20:05:40 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 21:15:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 12 11:19:09 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 12 11:21:29 -0800 2008
What style... it's like watching somebody pencil-sketch with words. I love the intensity of the chapters. Such impact.

It's abou...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 07:12:58 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 13:25:43 -0800 2009 "I mean, maybe I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?"


This is a very disturbing and yet agreeable read. I think it succeeds where Joyce Carol Oates fails, at least for me. When I try to read JCO I can't get into it but Joan here sweeps me right off my feet. Even tho...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 20 14:08:59 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 16:27:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Apr 06 16:00:06 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 16:10:20 -0700 2009 more...]]>