Literary Soundtracks: Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

by Kat Neis

Today, our playlist is inspired by Joan Didion's novel, Play It As It Lays, originally published in 1970. The novel centers on Maria Wyeth, a woman in the 1970s confined in a psychiatric hospital. What unfolds in Maria’s history is somehow both comforting and alienating, baffling and yet still incredibly knowable. I found myself drawn to soundscapes that seemed reminiscent of California, where the novel takes place, and although perhaps a bit too ‘on the nose,’ I couldn’t resist the gauzy alienation and desperation that drives both the music of Lana Del Rey and the intonations of Maria Wyeth.

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We’re revisiting our archives today—this post originally appeared on our website in August 2015.

literary soundtracksSiblini Journalliterary soundtracks, ocean vuong, spotify, sufjan stevens, khalid, solange, kendrick lamar, lord huron, singing, night sky with exit wounds, maria wyeth, play it as it lays, joan didion, california, lana del rey, tobias jesso jr, the middle east, amy winehouse