Title: Wishful Drinking
Author: Carrie Fisher
Genre: Personal Memoir; 156 pages
Released: 2008
Rating: 2.5 Bookmarks
I’ll preface this review by saying that my husband is a huge fan of the Star Wars movies. By default, I’ve seen said movies about 1,241,938 times which prompted me to borrow this book from the library.
Carrie Fisher is funny. Who knew? The material for this memoir was taken from a one-woman show she wrote and performed at the Geffen Playhouse in 2006.
The memoir is a quick and amusing read. Fisher dishes on life as a daughter of Hollywood royalty (parents Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher), but isn’t afraid to let her flaws and foibles hang out for all to see.
I laughed out loud during her discussion of her father’s penchant for adultery and remarriage. Betty was his third or fourth wife.
…he meets and marries Betty Lin. She’s from China…and they’re happy for ten or fifteen glorious years…but Betty passes away. But don’t worry, he’s not alone for long because now he dates all of Chinatown! He does this partly as a tribute to Betty and partly because he has had so many face-lifts that he looks Asian himself…”
Star Wars fans will get a kick out of Fisher’s description of working on the movies, including the part where she calls George Lucas a sadist for making her wear a hairstyle that added 20 pounds to her already-round face.
Fisher doesn’t hide her substance abuse issues or her electroshock therapy experiences. The book has a friendly, chatty tone, as if Fisher is just talking you up at the local coffee shop.
A quick and entertaining read and not the typical weighty tomes of other celebrity memoirs and autobiographies, add Wishful Drinking to your To Be Read pile, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan.
Book, Line, and Sinker 