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Quick answer: If you liked Play It as It Lays, read Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The Year of Magical Thinking, then try The Bell Jar, Less Than Zero, Good Morning, Midnight and My Year of Rest and Relaxation. All have flat, cool narrators who feel numb and adrift.
Didion's 1970 novel follows Maria Wyeth, a Hollywood actress, as she drifts through Los Angeles after a divorce and an illness. It is spare, cool and bleak. The books below share that voice, with women or young people who feel emptiness behind glamour. All are adult fiction or nonfiction, and all are real, in-print books.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slouching Towards Bethlehem | Joan Didion | Adult | more Didion |
| The Year of Magical Thinking | Joan Didion | Adult | grief writing |
| Run River | Joan Didion | Adult | Didion's early fiction |
| Democracy | Joan Didion | Adult | late Didion |
| The White Album | Joan Didion | Adult | essay collections |
| The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath | Adult | mental health classics |
| Less Than Zero | Bret Easton Ellis | Adult | numb narrators |
| Valley of the Dolls | Jacqueline Susann | Adult | showbiz downfalls |
| Good Morning, Midnight | Jean Rhys | Adult | lonely women |
| My Year of Rest and Relaxation | Ottessa Moshfegh | Adult | dark comedy |
| Heartburn | Nora Ephron | Adult | funny heartbreak |
| Breakfast at Tiffany's | Truman Capote | Adult | glamour and loneliness |
| Revolutionary Road | Richard Yates | Adult | marriage and disappointment |
| Bonjour Tristesse | Françoise Sagan | Adult | summer gone wrong |
| Postcards from the Edge | Carrie Fisher | Adult | showbiz humor |
1. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
Essays on 1960s California and the counterculture. The cool eye that Didion brings to her fiction.
Best for: more Didion.
2. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Didion's memoir of her husband's sudden death and her daughter's illness. Clear and moving.
Best for: grief writing.
3. Run River by Joan Didion
Her first novel about a California family and a marriage that breaks. Quiet and sad.
Best for: Didion's early fiction.
4. Democracy by Joan Didion
A love story set against Vietnam and the Pacific. Short and elegant.
Best for: late Didion.
5. The White Album by Joan Didion
Essays about the 1960s and 1970s, including her own breakdown. Precise and unsettling.
Best for: essay collections.
6. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A young woman in 1950s New York slides into depression. Sharp, funny and sad.
Best for: mental health classics.
7. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
A college student returns to Los Angeles and finds a world of drugs and numbness. Cold and brief.
Best for: numb narrators.
8. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Three women chase fame and fall into pills in Hollywood. Trashy, fast and sad.
Best for: showbiz downfalls.
9. Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
A woman drifts through Paris in loneliness and memory. Spare and haunting.
Best for: lonely women.
10. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
A young woman in New York tries to sleep for a year. Dark, funny and detached.
Best for: dark comedy.
11. Heartburn by Nora Ephron
A cookbook writer discovers her husband's affair. Witty and bitter.
Best for: funny heartbreak.
12. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
A narrator remembers his glamorous neighbor Holly Golightly in 1940s New York. Short and elegant.
Best for: glamour and loneliness.
13. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
A couple in 1950s suburbia watches their dreams collapse. Bleak, precise and powerful.
Best for: marriage and disappointment.
14. Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan
A teenage girl on the French Riviera plots against her father's fiancée. Short and cool.
Best for: summer gone wrong.
15. Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
An actress recovers from addiction and Hollywood. Funny, sharp and semi-autobiographical.
Best for: showbiz humor.
How to Choose
For more Didion, start with Slouching Towards Bethlehem or The Year of Magical Thinking. For the Plath-style voice, The Bell Jar. For modern detachment, My Year of Rest and Relaxation. For showbiz, Valley of the Dolls and Postcards from the Edge. These books depict depression, drug use and loss, so read with care. Didion's novels are short and spare, so they can be read in a sitting. Pair a novel with an essay to see how she builds the same cool voice in both forms. A library audiobook can also help you hear the rhythm of her sentences.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Play It as It Lays about?
Maria Wyeth, an actress in 1960s Los Angeles, drifts after her marriage ends and faces despair.
Is the book short?
Yes. It is about 200 pages of short, spare chapters.
Why is the prose so flat?
Didion uses a cool, detached voice to reflect Maria's numbness.
Is there a film?
Yes. A 1972 film starred Tuesday Weld.
Where should I start with Didion?
Many readers begin with Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
Is Play It as It Lays a depressing book?
Yes, but it is also darkly funny and exact.
Who is Maria Wyeth?
The main character, a former model and actress who drives the freeways of Los Angeles.
Does the book have a plot?
It is built from short, disconnected scenes that reflect Maria's mind.
What is the best Didion for new readers?
Slouching Towards Bethlehem is the classic.
Is the 1972 film worth watching?
Yes, though it is bleak. It stars Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins.
Is Didion's prose hard to read?
No. Her sentences are short and clear, and the cool tone is part of the appeal, though the content is heavy.