Today we start my 85th novel from the Time list. 85!

Only 16 more of these books to go, and we’ll kick off the final 16 with Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion.

First observation: Wouldn’t the correct grammar here be “Play It As It Lies?” You lay something down, while that same something lies down. Well, maybe I’ll figure out why Didion name the novel as such as I read.

So here are a few quick facts about Play It As It Lays and the author, Joan Didion: