I first learned about Joan Didion and Play It As It Lays through my “buddy” Warren Dekko who
is totally obsessed with this book and who loves to refer to it as THE ultimate
Hollywood novel.
The central character is Maria Wyeth, a Hollywood actress in
her early thirties. Told in a series of very short vignettes, which are
presented as fragmented, über-stylized snapshots, the novel traces the progress
of the grim, relentless and despairing disintegration of Maria’s life.
Maria’s
long but aimless car journeys through the arid landscape of the Mojave desert
are spellbinding. Anyways, this book is 84 chapters of stark, restrained,
controlled, raw awesomeness… a stylistic masterpiece… too bad they no longer
publish it with the legendary original rattlesnake cover.
And check out this
picture of Joan, she’s such a poser (loving it)!
Fantastic read, I can see that Brett Easton Ellis got some of its sugar from Joan. Very eloquent summary.
ReplyDeleteCurrently reading Murakami's 1Q84, it's fantastic: "“Beyond the window, some kind of small, black thing shot across the sky. A bird, possibly. Or it might have been someone's soul being blown to the far side of the world.”
Nice blog ! Dikke pieper