Read This Book if
—you’ve never read an account of an illegal abortion.
—you talk to gas station attendants and coffee shop owners more than your friends.
—you’ve used beach towels as blankets.
—you like to drive barefoot.
—you’re not sure where or what to call home.
Life Question This Book Helped Me Answer:
Why one of the best compliments I’ve received is when my plumber called me a “normal person.”
To a Minnesotan, pragmatism is critical to being a respectable person. Minnesota pragmatism includes mowing your own lawn, cleaning your own house, baking your own cakes (cake mixes are acceptable but canned frosting is frowned upon). Minnesota pragmatism means you’re not a snob, which is about the worst insult you can receive. So I was understandably worried about my reputation as a respectable person when we moved into a Boston neighborhood that several people told me was “snobby” (it wasn’t, actually). And I was understandably elated when my plumber, uncoerced, declared me to be a normal person. We had been on the East Coast for fifteen years at that point, but my Minnesota ideals were still with me.
For the protagonist Maria (pronounced Mar-eye-ah) in Play It As It Lays, it is similar. The more lost she becomes in her glamorous Hollywood life, the more she wants to connect with her roots—a defunct town in Nevada that is now in the middle of a missile field. The gas station attendants’ opinions matter more to her than her Hollywood friends’. (She makes sure the attendants see her put her returnable Coke bottle back on the rack when she’s finished, “a show of thoughtful responsibility.”) And she chooses to spend an afternoon talking to a coffee shop owner, a stranger, in the small town they’re shooting a movie in, rather than watching the shoot. In a life gone awry (her young child was institutionalized, she’s divorcing from her husband, her career is stalled) she is looking for proof that the person she started out as still exists.
Brief Synopsis
Maria is thirty-one years old and sinking into depression. Her young daughter has been institutionalized (presumably with autism), she and her husband are separated, and she’s attempting to resuscitate her once-promising acting career. She drives the freeways barefoot all day, eating a hard-boiled egg for lunch and stopping at gas stations for a Coca-Cola. She puts 7,000 miles on her Corvette in a month. That same month, she finds herself sleeping outside on a chaise longue by the pool. She uses beach towels instead of blankets. Blankets would suggest deliberateness: “the first step toward something unnamable.” Maria’s breakdown accelerates further after her husband forces her to have an illegal abortion, for a child that isn’t his.
Despite the fact that she “holds all the aces” in life—she had a successful modeling career in New York, found notoriety as an actress in Hollywood, married an up-and-coming director, is rich and beautiful—she has not won. She drives not only to forget where she is, but to find where she belongs. She is a mother, but not really a mother. She is a wife, but not really a wife. She is an agented actress, but not a working actress.
She sees those around her becoming equally disillusioned. But she will continue to play the game, play the cards she was given, though others are opting out. Maybe it’s more because she’s unwilling to leave than because she wants to stay. But that’s something.
Favorite Quote
“She [Maria] never puts on any weight, you’ll notice that’s often true of selfish women.”
Before You Read
References to Know
Iago: The villain in Shakespeare’s Othello. He is the trusted ensign of Othello, and plots to destroy Othello by convincing him that his wife is cheating on him. Iago is especially evil because his motivations for destroying Othello aren’t entirely clear. It seems plausible that he’s doing it just for the game.
Shalimar: Famous gardens in Pakistan. Also famous perfume by Guerlain. It was worn by Rita Hayworth, Brigitte Bardot, and Bianca Jagger.
Kraits: Highly venomous snakes belonging to the cobra family and found in Southeast Asia.
Maria: Means “of the sea” or “ bitter.”
Cuba Libre: Drink made with lime, rum, and Coca-Cola.
Baccarat: Casino game. The players make one of three bets: on the player hand, on the banker hand, or on a tie between the player and banker hands. Each hand consists of two cards. Bets are made before the hands are dealt. The dealer deals one player hand and one banker hand each betting round, and whichever hand comes closest to a score of 9 wins.
I Ching: Ancient Chinese holy book.
To throw the I Ching: System of divination by throwing coins (generally 3) and using the I Ching book to interpret them.
Snake symbolism: From Animal Speak by Ted Andrews: Snakes are a symbol of death and rebirth, transformation and healing, and newfound wisdom.
Hummingbird symbolism: From the card company Papyrus, which includes a hummingbird sticker with each of its cards: “Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy, and celebration.” From Animal Speak by Ted Andrews: “The hummingbird is a symbol for accomplishing that which seems impossible. It will teach you how to find the miracle of joyful living from your own life circumstances.” Hummingbird wings form a figure-8 when they fly. An 8 is also the symbol for infinity. Hummingbirds can fly forward, backward, or stay in limbo, which gives them a timeless quality that connects both past and future.
Interstate 80: Transcontinental freeway that runs from just outside New York City to San Francisco.
While You Read
Scavenger Hunt: Look for these items in the book.
—Uses for newspapers
—Hummingbirds
—Snakes
—Coca-Cola
—Games, especially solitaire
—Mentions of Nothing (Compare with BOOK REVIEW: THE SYMPATHIZER)
—References to highways
—Bare feet
—What gets thrown into pools
Themes
—Nothing
—Superstitions
—Small town vs. big city
—Life as a game
After You Read
Drink a CUBA LIBRE.
Eat a saltless hard-boiled egg for lunch and some cottage cheese. Wash down with a Coca-Cola drunk from a glass bottle.
Listen to
—“How High the Moon” by Les Paul and Mary Ford
—“I Get a Kick Out of You” by Frank Sinatra
—“Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield (lyric quoted in chapter 65)
—“Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears (lyric quoted in chapter 65)
—“King of the Road” by Roger Miller
Spend an hour playing solitaire with a deck of cards.
Sources
Andrews, Ted. Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993. Kindle edition. Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD, 2010.
BabyNames.com. “Maria.” Accessed November 21, 2020. www.babynames.com/name/maria
Caesars.com. “Learn How to Play Baccarat—Learn in Less Than Four Minutes.” Accessed November 21, 2020. www.caesars.com/casino-gaming-blog/latest-posts/table-games/baccarat/how-to-play-baccarat#.X7k6US1h3UI
Eclectic Energies.com. “Introduction to the I Ching.” Accessed November 21, 2020. www.eclecticenergies.com/iching/introduction
Frankel, Susannah. “Ready to Wear: Shalimar Was Once the Most Revolutionary of All Scents.” The Independent online. August 1, 2011. www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/frankel/ready-to-wear-shalimar-was-once-the-most-revolutionary-of-all-scents-2329539.html
Huang, Alfred, trans. Preface to The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation. 10th Anniversary ed. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2010.
Kermode, Frank. “Othello, the Moor of Venice.” In The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.Papyrus.com. About page. Accessed November 16, 2020. www.papyrusonline.com/about-us