Carrie Fisher is what we call nowadays a celebuspawn (think Rumer Willis and Peaches Geldof). Except that being born in the 1950s meant she got to become Elizabeth Taylor's stepdaughter and spent quality time with Cary Grant. Even the Jolie-Pitts would never be able to top that. These stories alone made her memoir, Wishful Drinking, a book I really wanted to read.
The problem with Wishful Drinking is that it's mostly the material from Carrie Fisher's one-woman show by the same name, and not really an in-depth, tell-all autobiography. It's a lot shorter and breezier you would expect from a book that covers not only an unusual Hollywood childhood and coming of age but also two marriages (to Paul Simon and to a gay man), the Star Wars trilogy and Fisher's years of struggling with addiction and mental illness.
I can't help it: My favorite part was family saga and stories about Carrie Fisher's parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds and long parade of step-parents. Ancient Hollywood gossip is infinitely better than TMZ and Perez Hilton, especially when told by a very witty and often hilarious insider. The Star Wars part felt a bit rushed and too obligatory: What did she wear under the white dress? (gaffer's tape), how did she feel about the iconic hairstyle? (it made her look fat). And then there are the heartbreaks, Paul Simon and the illness, taking up about a third of the book and in some places a bit glossed over.
I can't help feeling that Carrie Fisher and her story deserve better than a quick read in one sitting, which is all the book provides. Her first novel, the fictionalized autobiography Postcards From The Edge was much more satisfying.
The problem with Wishful Drinking is that it's mostly the material from Carrie Fisher's one-woman show by the same name, and not really an in-depth, tell-all autobiography. It's a lot shorter and breezier you would expect from a book that covers not only an unusual Hollywood childhood and coming of age but also two marriages (to Paul Simon and to a gay man), the Star Wars trilogy and Fisher's years of struggling with addiction and mental illness.
I can't help it: My favorite part was family saga and stories about Carrie Fisher's parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds and long parade of step-parents. Ancient Hollywood gossip is infinitely better than TMZ and Perez Hilton, especially when told by a very witty and often hilarious insider. The Star Wars part felt a bit rushed and too obligatory: What did she wear under the white dress? (gaffer's tape), how did she feel about the iconic hairstyle? (it made her look fat). And then there are the heartbreaks, Paul Simon and the illness, taking up about a third of the book and in some places a bit glossed over.
I can't help feeling that Carrie Fisher and her story deserve better than a quick read in one sitting, which is all the book provides. Her first novel, the fictionalized autobiography Postcards From The Edge was much more satisfying.
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