Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Opening Sentence of the Day: Play it as it Lays



"What makes Iago evil? some people ask."

-- Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

Heroine Maria (pronounced Ma-eye-ah) follows this opener with the soul-deadened, "I never ask."

This short, bleak novel about Hollywood shows up on several "must read" lists, including the All-TIME Top 100 and Erica Jong's Top 100 books by women.  I'm tearing through it because it is mesmerizing. But what a train wreck!

2 comments :

  1. We reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem my freshman year of college and I read Play It shortly thereafter.

    I still love it to pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd love to reread Play It As It Lays.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...