Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wishful Drinking
Book Review: Left me waiting for the story
Summary: 1 Stars
I don't generally write reviews, but this book just made me want to write one.
I've liked Carrie Fisher's other books and generally really like "memoirs" about drug addiction, drinking, mental health issues and things like that. So it seemed like Carrie Fisher's "memoir" titled Wishful Drinking would be very good. I was excited about reading it.
But, I did not like this book at all. It didn't go into any detail about anything in her life. Just a sentence or two about some "issue" and that's all. I was always waiting for "the story" then I finally just got to the end and really didn't feel like she actually told anything. It was just sort of rambling about herself while trying too hard to be funny yet leaving out an actual story. Along with that, although some authors can do the rambling, then getting distracted and changing to some other topic, she really couldn't pull it off.
I would not recommend this book at all which upsets me because I was really expecting something much better.
Book Review: Life as anecdote
Summary: 3 Stars
I would love to be able to give this book four or five stars, as I think Carrie Fisher is hilarious, and I've been a fan since I was an eight-year old watching Star Wars in 1977.
But it seems that her one-woman show, the source material for this book, loses a lot when it's put onto paper. I haven't seen the show, but I have heard her on the radio several times and she's a great interview. You can dig into the NPR archives to listen.
On stage, this material could become a whole performance. But pain transmuted into mere anecdote loses a lot in translation, without voice, expression and body language to support the story.
Fisher remains detached from her own memoir, partly a result of growing up so publicly in the ultimate dysfunctional Hollywood family, and now she says also due to her ECT treatments for her manic depression. For example, she's funny when she talks about being in Star Wars, and how it's taken over her identity, but she doesn't really share what the experience was like, as a nineteen-year old daughter of Hollywood finding herself (almost certainly unexpectedly) in the biggest movie of all time.
Fisher is a talented writer and performer, and I wish her all the best. I enjoyed Wishful Drinking, but ironically it feels like some of Fisher's biggest fans might be the most disappointed by the distancing effect of her humor. On the other hand, I have not read her novels, and fans of that work might be gratified to see Fisher finally telling her story as memoir rather than thinly disguised roman a clef.
Book Review: Limp Fish-er
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree that Carrie Fisher is talented. I read her book 'Postcards From the Edge' and watched the movie (she wrote the screenplay) and absolutely loved it. I was really looking forward to reading her latest book 'Wishful Drinking'. But a quarter of the way through, I was finding myself annoyed and irritated with her delivery. Clearly, she is an angry woman. Spurned, scorned . . . however you want to tag it. Throughout the first few chapters, after many, many (many) jabs at her father, she turned her contempt on her first husband, Paul Simon: She said they fought so much, more than most couples should. "In fact, we once had a fight on our honeymoon [check] where I said 'Not only do I not like you - I don't like you PERSONALLY.' " Nice.
My Review: Where there were moments of hilarity, she does not endear herself to her readers. She comes across as an angry, bitter spinster that blames her entire failure as a human being on: first, her father, next, her first husband, then, her second husband. Man-hater much? Oh, and wait - she suffers from manic depression. And bipolar disorder. Gosh, nothing is her fault! What a classic story. And very sad. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those VFLs (Victim For Life) who share her story and enjoy indulging in self-pity parties.
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: No lessons to be learned here
Summary: 2 Stars
I was expecting a lot more from this book after seeing Carrie on her promo tour. Found myself just skipping pages, bored with the revelations, and gave it away as a holiday gift.