LOS ANGELES: HOLLYWOOD AND BEYOND

Didion, Joan. Play it as it lays, New York : Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1970.

This gripping novel from the prolific Joan Didion shot straight to the the bestseller lists in 1970.  At the time it was groundbreaking in its depiction of sexuality, psychiatry - from a women's point of view.  The themes and characters can be seen as emblematic of the sixties and the groundswell movements of feminism and sexual freedom.

But unlike Valley of the Dolls, Didion is at pains to point out truths and avoids so-called Hollywood glamour and titillating her readers.