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Benny Austin
Les Goodwin is a screenwriter. He is Maria’s former lover and likely the father of her aborted baby. In an attempt to distract herself from her aimless life and deteriorating mental health, Maria rekindles her romance with Les, though the affair is complicated by the fact that Les is married to Felicia Goodwin. Even though Les is a persistent presence in Maria’s daydreams, she knows that Les won’t leave Felicia and that they cannot have a future together. Maria chooses not to tell Les about the abortion, but he detects that something is wrong with her and might suspect the pregnancy.
Les Goodwin Quotes in Play It As It Lays
The Play It As It Lays quotes below are all either spoken by Les Goodwin or refer to Les Goodwin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 19 Quotes
She could remember it all but none of it seemed to come to anything. She had a sense the dream had ended and she had slept on.
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Chapter 26 Quotes
“I am just very very very tired of listening to you all.”
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Chapter 67 Quotes
“Something bad is going to happen to me,” she said.
“Something bad is going to happen to all of us.”
She could hear a typewriter in the background. “I mean it. Take me somewhere.”
“You got a map of Peru?”
She said nothing.
“That’s funny, Maria. That’s a line from Dark Passage.”
“I know it.”
“I had a fight with Felicia at lunch, I’ve got to have a rewrite by tomorrow morning, I tell you something funny and you don’t laugh.”
“When I want to hear something funny I’ll call you up again.”
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Les Goodwin Character Timeline in Play It As It Lays
The timeline below shows where the character Les Goodwin appears in Play It As It Lays. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Some nights, Maria would have panicked dreams about Les Goodwin in New York, or Carter and BZ and Helene in the desert together, but...
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Chapter 3
When Maria returns home, she thinks about calling Les Goodwin to tell him about the interaction with the actor but thinks better of it....
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Chapter 4
...what he likes Maria because “she’s not a cunt.” BZ changes the subject, inquiring after Les Goodwin. Maria tells BZ that Les and Felicia are in New York before ushering him...
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Chapter 7
...and “depressed.” Maria hesitates. BZ mocks her, asking if she has other plans to meet Les at a hotel. When Maria is silent, BZ insists that he knows Maria and Les...
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When Les Goodwin calls her the next morning, Maria begins to cry once more. He asks her...
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Chapter 17
...Maria returns from her shopping, her answering service tells her she’s received three calls from Mr. Goodwin in New York, and that he wants her to call him back as soon as...
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Chapter 18
...exasperated Felicia tells Maria they’ve been trying to reach her for days now, and that Les had been worried something happened to her. She tells Maria they’ll be gone in a...
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Les demands that Maria tell him what’s been going on with her. Maria tells Les nothing...
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Chapter 19
...returns to her car and counts the cash. She realizes that she’s been thinking about Les Goodwin all day, and that it’s become hard to distinguish him from the rest of...
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...bedroom in New York and in the motel in Maryland. She thinks of Carter and Les Goodwin. She remembers things clearly, yet none of her memories “seem to come to anything,”...
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Chapter 20
When Les Goodwin calls Maria, she insists that everything is all right. Les doesn’t believe Maria and...
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Chapter 26
Maria orders a steak later that night while she’s out to dinner with Les Goodwin. She tells him she’d also like three drinks, and to go somewhere with loud...
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Chapter 31
...much blood that Maria goes through three pads in 15 minutes. She thinks about calling Les Goodwin, since Felicia is out of town, but she calls Carter instead. Carter orders Maria...
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Chapter 41
Every night, Maria thinks about how Les Goodwin will “keep her from peril.” She imagines Les lying beside her in a house...
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Chapter 50
...the parked cars. She gets up and goes to the pay phone, planning to call [Les Goodwin] to rescue her. Maria wonders if hearing Les laugh would change everything: would cheer...
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Chapter 51
Maria sits in her motel room in Oxnard and waits for Les Goodwin to call, which he said he’d do around 9:30 or 10:00, after his screening....
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Les suggests they go somewhere else, so he and Maria drive up the coast, rent a...
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When Maria returns to the motel room, Les tells her not to cry. Maria says there’s “no point” in doing any of the...
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Chapter 67
That afternoon, Maria calls Les Goodwin and says that “something bad” is going to happen to her. Les tries to...
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