Wishful Drinking
by Carrie Fisher
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Book Reviews of Wishful Drinking
Book Review: it's a blog not a book
Summary: 2 Stars
what a disappointment!!!! as other's have said, it's a mess of a book. couldn't she afford an editor? or did the publisher feel that since she was once a good writer, "postcards from the edge", she wouldn't need an editor?
i found the "chapters" a bit of a joke since there was no real content difference from one chapter to the next since she repeats herself alot. don't expect chronological order of events in her life, just expect truly free association of events, even within paragraphs.
if she was trying to let people experience first hand what a mental illness feels like, which seems to be the main topic of this book, she at least achieved that goal. i can honestly say i feel true sympathy now for the people who are experiencing it. unfortunately that wasn't what i was hoping to feel after i read a book by carrie fisher.
yes, there is a bit of name dropping but nothing surprising other than cary grant seemed to be somewhat of a drug counselor in his later years.
if you still want to read it, borrow it from the library, this book does not deserve any type of profit.
Book Review: Mostly amusing with the occasional flash of brilliance
Summary: 3 Stars
I almost didn't read this because Carrie's such a pop culture icon I knew most of her story. But it was an entertaining read--I particularly liked the chapter about her family tree, you can't help being fascinated with her lineage and the personalities involved. Her stories are fun. But I found myself wishing she would shut down her rather shallow "glib" voice more, and give us more of her INNER voice. I know she has one worth hearing, based on page 106 where she brilliantly expands on the revelation that you don't have to like everything you do, all the time. She masterfully relates the joys and difficulties of being Debbie's daughter. But what about being Paul's wife? The chapter about Carrie merging her own identity with that of Princess Leia (who, after all, was created by somebody else) also got old. Actors understand the line separating themselves from their characters, but I am not sure that Carrie does. Of course, this "confusion" makes for funnier on-stage stories. And that is my problem with the book: Her need to entertain me often gets in the way of my seeing the real her. And I like the real her!!
Book Review: Princess Leia Tells All...
Summary: 5 Stars
After four hit novels, one of which became a feature film, and after an iconic time as Princess Leia of Star Wars, Carrie Fisher comes "clean" with a memoir about what it's like to be a product of "Hollywood in-breeding". A term she has coined to describe the Hollywood royalty, Fisher reveals her life from the inside - the scandals, the marriages and remarriages of each of her parents, and her own marriage to Paul Simon.
With a disarming wit and self-deprecatory tone, Fisher shares about her addictions, her bipolar disorder, and her wonderful daughter, who, at fifteen, is amazingly "together", despite the drama of Fisher's own life.
Some of her experiences were described in her novels - "Postcards from the Edge" became a movie with Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine - but her psychiatric diagnoses came later.
Wishful Drinking is a book for anyone who felt less than perfect, but survived anyway.
By Laurel-Rain Snow
Author of:
Web of Tyranny, etc.
Book Review: Get it on audiobook
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is best as the unabridged audiobook read by the author herself! Much like David Sedaris, the only person that can fully convey the emotional impact and placement of emphasis in their experiences, is the author themselves. After listening to this three hour conversation with Carrie, as she does ask rhetorical questions of her reader/audiences, I wondered why she has not reached the level of gay icon status as Cher or Liza. The woman smoked Harrison Ford's dope, she turns men bald and gay, was the daughter of a gay icon (which gives you 10 points automatically), and has her fair share of True Hollywood Story moments - I mean come on! Has your mother given you a vibrator for Christmas, no? Only Carrie? Find out she ended up with a dead gay Republican in her bed...as one does and several other intriguing stories! A new tour of the one woman show also titled "Wishful Drinking" is being planned for 2009, so if you like Margaret Cho, Sarah Silverman, and Kathy Griffin and want to go a bit old school Enquirer - than make it a point to see her live!Book Review: "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi...you're my only hope."
Summary: 4 Stars
"Wishful Drinking" is a funny, self-deprecating memoir based on author Carrie Fisher's one-woman show about her crazy, addiction-prone life. She begins by describing her childhood upbringing as the daughter of celebrity parents, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, and chronicles her various failed relationships, drug addictions, mental illnesses, and rehab stints. Carrie is a very funny writer, and her snarky personality comes across terrifically in these pages. The book itself is incredibly short, which is disappointing, and the narratives aren't quite as detailed as I'd like them to be. (However, Carrie explains this up front by claiming that she doesn't remember most of her life due to her experiences with electroshock therapy, so I guess I should cut her some slack.) Overall, this is a brutally honest and exceptionally funny story about the life of the woman best known for her role as Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy. Read this for a few good laughs, or buy it just for the cover alone, which cracks me up every time I look at it.