The white witch of California

I love Joan Didion. She is such a force, a real contrast to how she appears: a fragile wisp of a thing, skinny as a pine needle.
Here's my confession: I've never read Play it as it Lays. I know, I know. It's like her seminal work. So I'm on it. It's going to bump Great House, 2666, and Elementary Particles. Why? Because it's summer. I think summer is really the only time you can read Joan Didion. Even when her books aren't set in California, there's a sadness that demands the heat as a great equalizer. Like sunscreen. I want the vitamin D, I want a little tan, but I really don't need to be scorched, raw, and red. Know what I'm sayin?
I also didn't realize that the book was made into a film! Directed by Frank Perry (Mommie Dearest) and starring Tuesday Weld (stellar name, dude), it has a sort of low rating on IMDb - but who cares about that. Anthony Perkins is in it too, with long shaggy hair.
The question is, should I read the book first? I've already answered my own question, because if I watch the movie I can forget about reading the book.
PS -These days, Didion is beautiful and shaky and so thin she's almost invisible.
PSS- In the old days, she was a crazy little fox, and frankly, a bit scary because you know she could really take you down if you said the wrong thing in her presence at a Hollywood dinner party. (which I inevitably would have)
PSSS - Didion's daughter, Quintana Roo, was given the prettiest name I've ever heard.