[1] The novel has been credited for helping define modern American fiction[2] and has been described as an "instant classic".

[3] It is known for depicting the nihilism and the illusory glamor of life in Hollywood,[4] as well as capturing the landscape and culture of 1960s Los Angeles.

31-year-old Maria Wyeth's story begins as she is recovering from an implied mental breakdown in a psychiatric hospital in the Los Angeles area.

Her journey oscillates between dizzying and domestic, as her acting career slows and her personal life collapses.

Maria contrasts her life in Los Angeles with her childhood in Silver Wells, Nevada, a small town so inconsequential that it no longer exists.

The daughter of a neurotic mother and a gambling father, who bet on a mine and lost, Maria moves to New York to become an actress.

Her father dies soon after, leaving useless mineral rights to his business partner and friend Benny Austin.

Maria withdraws from acting and modeling, splits up with Ivan, and eventually meets Carter and moves to Hollywood.

Maria follows steps to covertly contact and visit the only doctor who does "clean work" in Los Angeles.

An inevitable divorce, and the ensuing social chaos bring Maria to indulge in self-destructive behavior.

Maria disengages from her social world as she plunges into long days of compulsive driving, wandering Southern California's freeways, through motels and casinos, drinking and chancing sexual encounters with actors and ex-lovers.

Play It as It Lays was author Joan Didion's second novel, after her debut Run, River was published in 1963.

[14] Describing her upbringing she says, "My father advised me that life itself was a crap game: it was one of the two lessons I learned as a child.

At the exposition of the novel, Maria describes the recent events of life as such, "I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?".

The concept of nothing occurs in many contexts, such as Maria marking "nothing applies" on her hospital documents, and repeating this thought when revisiting memories of her past.

When speaking to Benny about their now-destroyed hometown, Maria says, "there is no Silver Wells", suggesting that finding meaning in past memories is futile.

[18][19] The philosophical themes of the novel have been described as "freeway existentialism"[20] as Maria goes on drives without a destination in mind.

[17] Driving a fast car on the open road is often considered a literary symbol of the illusion of freedom, which is easily achieved in Southern California, where there is a well developed, multi-lane freeway.

The few dialogues which depict genuine, heartfelt interactions stand out, such as BZ telling Maria, "hold onto me" before overdosing.

"[25] In a review of the novel, Joseph Epstein described Joan Didion as a novelist: "her vision is dark, her views are bleak, but she is richly talented.

[33][34] The book was adapted into a 1972 film directed by Frank Perry, starring Tuesday Weld as Maria and Anthony Perkins as BZ.